ROSS TWP — Isaac DeGregorio found his collective zen in the final minute.

The North Catholic guard attacked the rim, finished a layup and provided the Trojans with some breathing room during a PIAA Class 3A second round playoff game Wednesday night at North Hills Middle School.

While the basket didn't guarantee North Catholic's 68-62 win over Aliquippa, but it helped the Trojans restore their collective zen.

“We still tried to get in our gaps,” said DeGregorio, who scored a game-high 25 points. “We didn't want to take any bad threes or contested twos. I think we did a decent job holding the ball. That left-handed layup I made was a key part of the game because that put us up three and got us a little run.”

North Catholic (26-2) will meet District 6 champion Richland in the quarterfinals Saturday at a time and place to be determined.

The PIAA still plans to play the games as scheduled, but the coronavirus situation has cast a specter over the next round's games. The NCAA announced yesterday they would play all games for March Madness in empty arenas.

“I would be really disappointed,” DeGregorio said. “No one wants to play in an empty gym. What if you hit a game-winner and nobody's there. It takes away part of the game, but if that's what they have to do for the safety of us that's what they have to do.”

Avoiding lulls against the Quips (17-10) was something North Catholic battled with throughout the second half.

The Trojans only trailed once, 3-2, after Dewayne Revis made a 3-pointer with 6:01 left in the first quarter. Isaac DeGregorio answered with a trey 15 seconds later to put North Catholic ahead for good, 5-3.

Jackson Paschall also finished in double figures for the Trojans, finishing with 10 points.

The Quips, after having much difficulty finishing around the rim, ran off a 9-2 run in the first four-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter that cut the deficit down to 41-40.

Zuriah Fisher led Aliquippa with 19 points.

“There were a couple inbound passes we turned it over at critical times when we got a lead,” Trojans coach Dave DeGregorio said. “We handled their pressure pretty well. They did a good job, we're going to deny everybody and make you finish at the rim.”

North Catholic stretched the lead back to 10, 54-44, by the end of the third quarter. The Quips got the lead down to 60-59 following a trey by Revis with 2:09 left.

The Trojans had a hard time keeping Aliquippa off the glass.

“Two days ago in practice, we looked at the stats and they rebound 45 percent of their misses,” Isaac DeGregorio said. “In the first half, we did a great job. They had six offensive rebounds, which is still a lot.”

But Isaac DeGregorio was able to make a key layup late the Trojans hit free throws to move on. North Catholic hopes they have an opportunity for more tough battles on its way to Hershey.

“Hopefully they continue to let crowds in the game,” DeGregorio said. “You play Aliquippa, it's going to be a battle. The few losses they have have been close losses.”

ALIQUIPPA 62

Dewayne Revis 3 1-2 9, Karl McBride 4 0-0 8, Vaughn Morris 3 0-0 7, Michael Dawkins 3 2-7 8, Zuriah Fisher 6 7-11 19, Deandre Moye 1 0-0 3, Cyair Clark 1 0-0 2, Jon Sparrow 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 9-20 62.

NORTH CATHOLIC 68

Jackson Pashall 3 4-5 10, Isaiah Jackson 1 2-2 5, Ryan Feczko 3 2-4 9, Jake Tomer 3 0-0 7, Isaac DeGregorio 7 8-10 25, Andrew Ammerman 3 0-1 6, Hans Rottmann 3 0-1 6, Anthony Serventi 0 0-0 0. Totals: 22 17-23 68.

Aliquippa 13 15 16 16 — 62

North Catholic16 19 19 14 — 68

3-point goals: Aliquippa 4 (Revis 2, Morris, Moye); North Catholic 7 (DeGregorio 3, Jackson, Feczko, Tomer, Rottmann)

Saturday: North Catholic vs. Richland, TBD