JEFFERSON TWP — Knoch continued to make history Wednesday night — this time without one of its history makers.

The Knights sank 15 treys — 10 in the first half — in running away from St. Marys, 65-35, in the program’s first-ever PIAA Class 4A Tournament girls basketball game. Madilyn Boyer became the second player in program history to score 1,000 career points. The other was Joyce Fennell in 1974.

“I’m proud of all of our girls tonight,” Knoch coach Chris Andreassi said of the win on his team’s home floor. “The student body support in the stands was tremendous. The crowd was exceptional.

“This game was for everyone.”

So was the play on the floor.

Playing without junior point guard Nina Shaw — a key component in a seaon that saw the Knights win their first section title in 50 years and advance to their first WPIAL championship game — who tweaked a knee in the district final Saturday.

Andreassi expects Shaw to return to the lineup Saturday, when Knoch takes on Delone Catholic in the next round at a site and time to be determined. Delone Catholic defeated Montour, 58-25, Wednesday.

“If she’s healthy, I know she’s gonna play,” the coach said of Shaw. “This is too important to Nina and she’s too important to us to miss this.”

St. Marys (18-7) scored the first points of the game as Maura Caskey drove for a layup two and a half minutes into the contest. But Knoch (22-3) responded with 3-point goals from CeCe Kosecki, Natirelle Ewing and Hattie McGraw to grab a 9-2 advantage. The Knights were never threatened from there.

Ten of Knoch’s 13 field goals in the first half were treys. The Lady Dutch surrendered an average of 32 points per game this season. Knoch hit them for 36 in the first half in taking an 18-point lead to the locker room.

“Knoch played a great game tonight,” first-year Sty. Marys coach Michael Franciscus said. “They were hitting their shots and they play outstanding defense.

“I’m very proud of my team and the season we had. We just never got it going tonight.”

Kosecki replaced Shaw in the starting lineup and sank three treys in the first half. She had nine points, three assists and a pair of steals on the night.

Knoch’s lead peaked at 63-30 with on a Boyer trey with 6:43 left to play. Andreassi emptied his bench at that point.

“Not having Nina, those were big shoes to fill,” Kosecki said. “But I knew I had the support of my teammates. Everyone had confidence in me. I just went out there and played relaxed.”

Boyer scored 22 points for the Knights. She scored her 1,000th career point by driving the length of the flood for a layup, just before the buzzer sounded to end the first quarter.

Boyer added five assists, four rebounds and four steals.

“That was a good feeling for me, getting that basket,” Boyer admitted. “I’m not gonna lie ... The 1,000-point thing was on my mind at the start of the game. Then I hit a 3-pointer, knew it was gonna come, so I just settled down and played the game from there.”

McGraw sank six treys and scored 18 points. Naturelle Ewing tallied seven assists, Karlee Buterbaugh six rebounds for the Knights.

“Blackhawk face-guarded Hattie that whole game (in the WPIAL Finals),” Boyer said. “I had a feeling she was going to go off tonight.”

Jayssa Snelick, a sophomore, led the Lady Dutch with 15 points, five steals and four rebounds. Isabelle Caskey chipped in with nine points, but St. Marys was plagued by 24 turnovers.

“Jayssa has a great basketball future in front of her,” Franciscus said. “She’s already a leader on the floor for us.”

“We wanted to pressure them defensively, but we mixed things up,” Andreassi said. “We threw three different pressure defenses at them, tried to disguise what we were doing. That proved to be effective.”

ST. MARYS 35

Abigail Erich 0-0 0-0 0, Holly Anthony 0-1 0-0 0, Isabella Catalone 2-5 1-2 6, Jayssa Snelick 5-8 5-7 15, Olivia Eckels 0-3 0-0 0, Maura Caskey 2-4 1-2 5, Isabella Caskey 4-6 1-2 9, Ava Johnson 0-1 0-0 0, Lucia Hayes 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 13-29 8-13 35.

KNOCH 65

Lily Hawk 2-2 0-0 4, CeCe Kosecki 3-6 0-0 9, Karlee Buterbaugh 1-3 0-0 2, Hattie McGraw 6-12 0-0 18, Naturelle Ewing 2-7 0-0 5, Paige Rodgers 1-4 0-0 2, Jessica Burgard 0-1 0-0 0, MacKenzie McGraw 1-2 0-0 3, Madilyn Boyer 9-14 0-2 22, Lauren Bowser 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 25-52 2-4 65.

St. Marys 5 13 10 7 — 35

Knoch 17 19 22 7 — 65

3-point goals: St. Marys 1 (Catalone), Knoch 15 (Kosecki 3, H.McGraw 6, Ewing, M.McGraw, Boyer 4)

Saturday: PIAA 4A Playoffs-Knoch vs. Delone Catholic, site and time TBA