CRANBERRY TWP — Matt Gregor's focus was on shutting Knoch junior guard Ryan Lang down. The North Catholic junior guard had watched as Lang tortured the Trojans for three quarters Friday night at North Catholic High School.

Gregor figured if they slowed Lang down, North Catholic could pull away eventually. The Trojans blitzed the Knights with 15 straight points to open the fourth quarter and limited Lang to four of his game-high 28 in a 67-55 Section 1-4A win.

Gregor, who scored all 15 of his points after halftime, thought attitude helped kick start North Catholic (10-3, 6-0).

“We picked up our energy on offense,” Gregor said. “We were getting steals, our bench was lively. Whenever we get energetic, nobody can stop us.”

Trojans coach Dave DeGregorio didn't believe any words would help North Catholic extend its two-point lead at the end of the third quarter. DeGregorio isn't sure he could have come up with anything to inspire what transpired.

“I'm not that motivational,” DeGregorio said. “It was just the kids. I do think there was fatigue with Knoch and they made turnovers. There was a two-minute stretch in the fourth where we had a good run and took the game over at that point.”

Knoch may have been a team running on fumes. The Knights only practiced three times in the previous 20 days after being shut down for COVID-19 precautions.

At the outset, Knoch appeared out of sorts. The Knights turned the ball five times on their first five possessions.

North Catholic took advantage, surging to a 9-2 lead. DeGregorio would like to find a way to harness those dominant stretches.

“We have to look at when that's happening,” DeGregorio said. “We're going through good stretches and really bad stretches. If we can keep our good stretches and our bad stretches go to OK stretches, we'll be better.”

Connor Maddalon led the Trojans with 24 points, while Andrew Ammerman finished with a double-double, recording 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Despite the tough start, Knoch battled back and took the lead late in the second quarter. Following a 3-pointer from Lang, the Knights led 24-17 with less than three minutes left in the half.

North Catholic closed the half with a 12-2 run that allowed the Trojans to take a 29-16 lead into the break. The Trojans ended the half with four consecutive points from Maddalon, who spun in a layup and made two free throws after being fouled at the half-time buzzer.

“We lost our composure,” Knoch coach Alan Bauman said. “We went away from who we are and that ended up being the difference in the game, unfortunately.”

The Knights closed the third quarter with a strong surge and cut the lead to 47-45 following a shot from Cole Green. North Catholic went through a tough offensive stretch and shot 15.4 percent (2-of-13) from the 3-point line for the game.

The Trojans rallied behind their defense to open the fourth and seal the win.

Defense, Gregor believes, is something North Catholic can always rely on.

“You can't shoot great every night,” Gregor said. “Even though we are a good shooting team most of the time, our defense stays up and helps us.”

KNOCH 55

Keagan Fraser 4 0-2 8, Blaze Voltz 2 0-0 4, Ryan Lang 8 8-9 24, Tyler Buterbaugh 2 0-0 5, Zach McMillen 2 0-0 4, Cole Green 3 0-0 6, JJ Szebalskie 1 0-0 2. Totals: 22 8-11 55.

NORTH CATHOLIC 67

Owen DeGregorio 0 0-0 0, Isaiah Jackson 4 0-0 9, Matt Gregor 6 2-3 15, Connor Maddalon 9 4-6 24, Andrew Ammerman 6 3-8 15, Andrew Maddalon 0 0-0 0, Max Hurray 0 0-0 90, Kyle Tipinski 0 0-0 0, Tommy Molenda 0 2-2 2. Totals: 25 11-19 67.

Knoch 16 10 19 10 — 55

North Catholic13 16 18 20 — 67

3-point goals: Knoch 5 (Lang 4, Buterbaugh); North Catholic 2 (Gregor, Jackson)