WEXFORD — As soon as Knoch pushed, Chartiers Valley ran away — on the scoreboard.

A 3-point field goal by Austin Miller and transition layup by Dakota Bruggeman pulled the Knights within 40-32 of top-seeded Chartiers Valley with 4:56 left in the third quarter of their WPIAL Class AAA first round boys basketball playoff game Tuesday night.

The Colts responded with a 17-0 run over the next four minutes and rolled to a 77-43 victory at North Allegheny High School.

“That team is awfully good. They have all the pieces,” Knoch coach Ron McNabb said. “And with (coach) Tim McConnell on the bench ... he knows what he’s doing.”

Chartiers Valley (20-3) raced out to a 31-11 lead in the game’s first 10 minutes. Knoch (12-12) never led in the contest. The final score was the Colts’ biggest lead of the night.

“They put some things together and made a run at us, but we survived it,” McConnell said. “Then we put together a run of our own.

“I really like my team. I like how unselfish we play and I like the way we defend. And we talk about protecting the basketball to give ourselves offensive opportunities.”

Despite their fast-paced style of play, the Colts suffered only three turnovers all night, none in the second half. Knoch had 13 turnovers.

“We’re not a team that forces a lot of turnovers,” McNabb said. “We hunker down and try to keep people out of the paint and from driving to the basket. We didn’t do that well tonight.”

Chartiers Valley is the highest scoring Triple-A team in the WPIAL, averaging 73.5 points per game. Five Colts average in double figures and four of them got there Tuesday.

Only Class A Vincentian (83.8 ppg) and Class AAAA New Castle (79.8) among all WPIAL teams score more often than Chartiers Valley.

The Colts won a regular season game at Knoch, 65-51, on Feb. 1.

“Tonight, they shot the ball better and their big guy (6-foot-6 center Spencer Casson) asserted himself more,” McNabb said.

“They are hard to match up against because they can hit the 3, drive to the basket and they’ve got the big kid inside. But our guys played hard tonight. They worked hard all year.”

Michael Boulos paced Chartiers Valley with 23 points, five rebounds and three steals. Matty McConnell tallied 20 points — including four treys — and three steals.

Casson posted 13 points, nine rebounds and four blocked shots. Haedyn Herzer chipped in 10 points, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals.

“Our big guy was outstanding tonight,” McConnell said. “He made them alter some shots, too.”

Bruggeman was Knoch’s lone player in double figures with 12 points. Matt Zanella came off the bench to produce eight points and seven rebounds, while Miller had seven points and five assists.

The Knights lose four seniors in Bruggeman, Marc Vaughan, Alex Campbell and Ben Pfieffer. That group led the team to its first playoff win in seven years.

“I’m very happy with the progress we made in my first year,” McNabb said. “We can build on this.”

KNOCH 43

Austin Miller 2-10 1-2 7, David Gallagher 2-6 0-0 6, Dakota Bruggeman 5-9 2-2 12, Matt Zanella 4-8 0-0 8, Adam Albert 0-2 0-0 0, Marc Vaughan 2-6 1-2 5, Chris Kier 2-3 0-0 5, Ben Pfieffer 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 17-45 4-6 43.

CHARTIERS VALLEY 77

Jake Ritson 0-1 0-0 0, Josh Lapiana 1-1 0-0 2, Andreo Coury 0-0 0-0 0, Michael Boulos 10-14 3-4 23, Dom Castello 2-5 1-2 7, Haedyn Herzer 4-8 1-1 10, Spencer Casson 6-9 1-2 13, Eddie Flohr 0-1 0-0 0, Matty McConnell 8-17 0-1 20, Joe Antonucci 1-1 0-0 2, Kyle Westover 0-1 0-0 0, Connor DePofi 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 32-59 6-11 77.

Knoch 9 13 12 9—43

Chartiers Valley24 12 24 17—77

3-point goals: Knoch 5 (Miller 2, Gallagher 2, Kier); Chartiers Valley 7 (Castello 2, Herzer, McConnell 4).