Bishop Guilfoyle Academy’s boys basketball team wasn’t supposed to be back in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference championship game this season after losing two star players — one to injury and another that transferred out of state.

The Marauders also won’t be the top seed in the upcoming District 6 Class 3A playoffs — that went to Forest Hills.

But Thursday’s LHAC semifinal game at Pleasant Valley gymnasium certainly did not.

BG jumped ahead of the Rangers by as many as 24 points before settling for a 78-69 victory, and the Marauders find themselves back in a familiar position — squaring off with Johnstown for the LHAC title tonight at Penn State Altoona’s Adler Arena at 7 p.m.

“It means a lot. We have won it the past two years,” BG senior Nick Foor said. “We want to try and get the three-peat and keep it going. We just like to come out and dominate every Laurel Highlands team we can. We have done a good job so far, but we want to finish it off.”

Foor led the Marauders with 18 points and was sharp early, hitting a pair of first-quarter 3-pointers before Troy Ruggery’s trey at the buzzer put BG ahead, 27-13, eight minutes into the game.

“I couldn’t have dreamed that,” BG coach Ryan Lestochi said. “That’s exactly how we wanted the first half to go. We didn’t quite envision it exactly like that, but it was an outstanding first half that started with intensity and effort. That was the main thing we wanted to harp on.”

Forest Hills entered the game 20-1 with its only loss to Class 5A Johnstown but did not even look competitive with the Marauders throughout most of the game.

“We wanted to get out at them fast — start hot early,” Foor said. “We knew if we kept pressuring them, they would eventually break and we could take over the game.”

The Rangers, like BG, are led by underclassmen and seemed overwhelmed at times.

“It’s loud,” Forest Hills junior Koy McGough said. “They got off to a fast start, and that made it louder. The student section is loud, the fans are loud. It is a rough environment.”

The Marauders played eight players in the first quarter, and all of them scored at least one basket.

“We believe we’re much harder to guard when five guys on the court are sharing the ball and moving it,” Lestochi said. “We feel like we can get a shot any time if we play what I consider the right way.”

Bishop Guilfoyle won’t have long to celebrate. The Marauders will be back on the court tonight against undefeated Johnstown, which defeated Hollidaysburg in the other semifinal.

“I’m assuming it’s going to be like last year, which is one of the best atmospheres I have been in for a basketball game,” Lestochi said. “It was loud with a lot of people. It’s an awesome venue there. I’m glad they host it. We know what we are getting from them. They are going to play hard and pressure you. They are a well-coached team. I hope we’re ready to go.”

Foor, who scored a team-high 18 points, is looking forward to the challenge.

“Every time we play them, it’s a close and great game,” Foor said. “It’s always competitive. It’s just fun, because we are both fast-paced teams.”

Forest Hills, which got 30 points from Dylan Stohon, 18 points from McGough and 16 points from Brandon Gregovich, outscored BG, 30-19, in the fourth quarter to get within eight points at one point. The Marauders went just 3-for-12 from the foul line.

“I think we have to take the positive of the fourth quarter with us,” Forest Hills coach Dominic Vescovi said. “They came out and hit us hard in the first. They hit some open shots, crashed the offensive rebounds and they really pressured us on defense. I think bouncing back in the fourth quarter will really give us momentum (in the playoffs). We got a lot of contributors in the fourth quarter, and as a team we rallied around that.”

Bishop Guilfoyle had just one turnover in the first half but finished with 12. Hamilton Gates provided 11 of his 15 points in the second half to help hold off Forest Hills.

“That was a rough fourth quarter,” Lestochi said. “Our foul shots down the stretch were really bad. We turned the ball over uncharacteristically and started chirping with each other a little bit. Hopefully we can learn from those things and clean them up before tomorrow.”

FOREST HILLS (69): McGough 7 0-1 18, Stohon 11 8-11 30, Gramling 1 0-0 3, Gregovich 7 2-5 16, Williamson 0 0-0 0, Gabany 0 0-0 0, Richardson 0 0-0 0, Edmundson 1 0-0 2, Myers 0 0-0 0, Tokarsky 0 0-0 0. Totals — 27 10-17 69.

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (78): Lestochi 4 0-4 8, Consiglio 4 1-2 9, Ruggery 5 1-4 15, Foor 7 0-0 18, J. Kissell 3 0-0 8, C. Kissell 1 0-0 3, Gates 7 1-2 15, G. Okonak 1 0-0 2. Totals — 32 3-12 78.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Forest Hills 13 12 14 30 — 69

Bishop Guilfoyle 27 15 17 19 — 78

3-point goals: Forest Hills 5 (McGough 4, Gramling); Bishop Guilfoyle 11 (Foor 4, Ruggery 4, J. Kissell 2, C. Kissell).

Records: Forest Hills (20-2); Bishop Guilfoyle (19-3).

Officials: Rich Gergely, Jason Moschgat, Cliff Kitner.