JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch didn’t spend its idle time being idle — and it showed in Friday night’s WPIAL Class 4A girls basketball quarterfinal.

Playing in front of a boisterous home crowd, the third-seeded Knights pulled away to big leads twice, the second time effectively putting away their 67-48 victory over Montour. Knoch had not played a game in 15 days.

“We were a little rusty early, but we got it together,” Knoch coach Chris Andreassi said.

Knoch (20-2) won its 17th consecutive game. The Knights will play No. 2 seed Southmoreland in a semifinal Tuesday night at a site and time to be determined.

“During the time off, we played a couple of scrimmage games and that really helped us stay sharp,” senior Madilyn Boyer said. “When I got to the gym and started stretching, I felt so calm. I was a little nervous at the start of the game, but once you start playing ... it’s basketball.

“We started a little slow, but I thought we found our game rather quickly.”

And the Knights played it well.

An 11-0 spurt midway through the second quarter gave Knoch a 25-11 lead. Montour (16-7) fought back, however, using a layup, four free throws and a 3-point goal by Jordyn Wolfe to pull within 27-22 early in the third quarter.

“I told Hattie (McGraw) and Naturelle (Ewing) at halftime that they had to shoot the ball,” Andreassi said. “Montour was playing a 1-3-1 zone and we wanted to get them out of it. Hattie and Naturelle were going to have open shots in the corners.”

The Knights canned five treys during a 24-point third quarter that put the game away. McGraw hit two on consecutive possessions, Nina Shaw buried a pair and Ewing drained one.A 13-9 Knoch run opened up a 51-28 lead late in the third and basically ended the competitive portion of the game.

A McGraw trey was followed by a Karlee Buterbaugh layup early in the fourth as the lead ballooned to 57-30. Knoch’s lead peaked at 28 (67-39) late in the final quarter as Andreassi began emptying his bench.

“No doubt, we were ready for this game,” Shaw said. “Our practices every day were intense. We were going at it hard. And those scrimmage games were big-time.”

Shaw tallied 22 points, six rebounds, five assists and three steals for Knoch. Boyer contributed 21 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“Maddy is a four-year starter and Nina is is a three-year starter,” Andreassi said. “Those girls have been in big games like this before. When (Montour) ran back at us, it was just a matter of hitting some shots against that zone.”

McGraw had 12 points for the Knights while Buterbaugh had seven rebounds.

Olivia Lyscik, Montrour’s center, paced the Spartans with 20 points and 13 rebounds despite playing in foul trouble. She picked up her fourth foul in the third quarter. Wolfe had 11 points, four rebounds and three assists.

“She’s a 1,000-point scorer and they run some good plays out of their half-court offense,” Andreassi said of Lyscik. “Our goal tonight was to force them out of that and I thought we did a pretty good job there.”

The Spartans had 17 turnovers, many leading to Knoch points in transition.

“Our defense turned into offense,” Shaw said. “We were ready for this game. I was confident we’d find a way to win.”

Montour coach Jen O’Shea could not be reached for comment.

MONTOUR 48

Jordyn Wolfe 2-13 6-7 11, Olivia Persinger 1-7 2-4 5, Abigail Cleary 2-6 0-0 5, Julia Cox 1-3 1-2 3, Sterling McCleaster 1-4 0-0 2, Olivia Lyscik 9-17 1-4 20, Ava Laurenzi 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 17-52 11-17 48.

KNOCH 67

Lily Hawk 0-0 0-0 0, Abbie Hawk 0-0 0-0 0, CeCe Kosecki 2-6 0-0 4, Karlee Buterbaugh 1-3 1-2 3, Hattie McGraw 4-9 1-1 12, Naturelle Ewing 2-6 0-0 5, MacKenzie McGraw 0-1 0-0 0, Nina Shaw 9-14 1-2 22, Madilyn Boyer 9-14 1-2 21. Totals: 27-53 4-7 67.

Montour 6 13 11 18 — 48

Knoch 11 16 24 16 — 67

3-point goals: Montour 3 (Wolfe, Persinger, Cleary), Knoch 9 (McGraw 3, Ewing, Shaw 3, Boyer 2)

Tuesday: Knoch vs. Southmoreland, WPIAL 4A semifinals, site and time TBA