HERSHEY - Dominic Manno likes to score in three-point batches, even if it takes some creativity.

Manno and M.J. Knight each scored 12 points to lead Moon to a 52-50 victory over previously unbeaten Holy Ghost Prep in Friday night's PIAA Class AAA title game.

Manno helped pull the Tigers (29-3) back into the game with a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter, then they padded the lead with a 3-pointer to open the third.

But it was his fourth score, an old-fashioned three-point play, that had the crowd on its feet.

After Drew Braunstein rebounded a Moon miss, Manno plucked the ball from between Braunstein's legs, then made a layup while being fouled by Braunstein. He followed that by making the free throw for a 29-24 lead.

"I came up behind him, and I thought he was going to put the ball on the floor," Manno said. "He wasn't expecting it, and I just took it from him."

It was Knight, though, who came off the bench to almost single-handedly fend off Holy Ghost's fourth-quarter rally. Subbing for Duane Compo, who had four fouls, Knight scored Moon's last 10 points.

"When Duane went out, I realized I needed to step up," Knight said. "It was my last game, and I just wanted to make it my best."

Trailing the entire second half, the Firebirds (31-1) pulled within a basket three times, and Brett Manney's putback of a Leandro Martinez 3-point try made it 52-50 with just 21 seconds left. Holy Ghost stole the ball back, and had several chances to tie or pull ahead in the final seconds, but Martinez's desperation 3-pointer at the last second was long.

"We tried to get Jamie (Cousart) the ball so he could penetrate and get inside," Holy Ghost coach Tony Chapman said of the last play. "They played good enough defense to get us off balance, and we never could get back inside."

Ryan Helfrich also scored 10 for Moon.

Manney led all scorers with 20 points, but was the only Firebird in double figures.

Holy Ghost's transition game helped them take a 14-6 lead in the first quarter, and Manney's layup early in the second quarter made it 16-6.

But Moon came back in the second quarter with 3-point shooting and the strength of its inside game. Derek Gallagher hit a 3-pointer, and Manno's second 3 of the quarter brought the Tigers within 22-19 with 2:01 left.

"We came out just right," Moon coach Jeff Ackerman said. "Once we started to make some shots, we loosened up and realized it was going to be OK."

A.Q. Shipley, a 6-foot-3, 275-pound Penn State football recruit, muscled his way in for another Moon basket, and Helfrich's spinner in the lane gave the Tigers their first lead, 23-22, with 47.1 seconds left in the first half.

AP-ES-03-20-04 0009EST