CLAYSBURG — Free throws and layups often play a vital role in a basketball game, and, together with a rugged start, they all combined to spell doom for Claysburg-Kimmel in a District 6 Class 2A boys basketball semifinal matchup Friday night.

The second-seeded Bulldogs fell behind No. 3 Bishop McCort Catholic, 14-2 at the start of the game, and Claysburg converted just three of its 15 first-quarter floor shots and only six of its 26 first-half shots overall.

McCort, which made 10 of its 21 first-half floor shots and 16 of its 20 free throws in the game, held off a spirited Claysburg fourth-quarter rally to post a 54-44 victory at the Claysburg High School gymnasium.

The win puts the Crushers (16-8) in the District 6 Class 2A championship game against unbeaten and top-seeded United next Thursday night at Mount Aloysius College. United advanced with a 66-35 semifinal victory over fourth-seeded Northern Cambria Friday.

Claysburg will host Northern Cambria next Thursday night in the third-place consolation game, with the winner of that game advancing to the PIAA state tournament.

McCort reeled off 12 straight points to build its 14-2 first-quarter lead against Claysburg. Junior guard Brady Page, who scored a game-high 21 points, ignited McCort’s surge with a 3-pointer from the right side that put the Crushers on top to stay, 5-2.

Junior forward Kaden Kovalchic, who grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds, scored a field goal off a drive, and senior guard Maddox Laughard followed with a 3-ball from the left side. After Kovalchic hit one of two free throws, junior guard Jaeger Forrest drained a 3-pointer from the top of the circle to create the 14-2 McCort spread.

“That hurt,” Claysburg-Kimmel coach Mike Harris said of his team’s tough start. “We were cold shooting, and we missed a lot of bunnies (layups). They had guys step up for them and hit shots.

“They play in a great league against schools in the Class 3A through Class 5A levels,” Harris said of the Crushers, who compete in the Laurel Highlands Athletic Conference. “They showed a lot of physicality tonight, and we need to be ready for that, because this is the playoffs.”

Page said that the Crushers’ plan was to set the tone for the game early on.

“We started off quick (Tuesday in a quarterfinal-round win over) Moshannon Valley, and we planned on doing that again tonight,” Page said of the Crushers, who will be making their first trip to a District 6 championship game in nine seasons. “We haven’t been (to a district final) since 2017, and (McCort head) Coach (Chris Pfeil) has been telling us that this is our year.”

Pfeil was happy with his team’s play on both ends of the court Friday.

“We did a good job coming out of the gate,” Pfeil said. “We got the lead in the first quarter, and we really locked down on defense and we were able to limit them to one chance.”

McCort, which got 12 points and nine rebounds from senior guard Angelo Gallucci, led 17-8 after one quarter and 27-16 at halftime. After an evenly-matched third quarter, the Crushers carried a 39-27 lead into the final quarter before Claysburg punched back in a big way.

The Bulldogs scored 13 of the first 17 points in the final period to pull to within three points, 43-40 on senior guard Brayden Haney’s driving layup with 3:16 left.

A pair of 3-pointers and two free throws by junior Christian Treon, who led Claysburg in scoring with 15 points, plus five points from Haney — including the layup that made it a 3-point game — comprised the Bulldogs’ rally.

But that’s the closest that Claysburg (20-6) could get.

“I’m proud of our guys, they battled to the very end,” Harris said of the Bulldogs, who got 11 points from Haney, 10 from sophomore Gavin Treon, and a team-high 12 rebounds from senior forward Cory Walter.

When the heat was on though, McCort managed to weather the storm. Kovalchic hit one of two free throws with three minutes left, and when McCort regained possession after a Page steal, junior guard Jaeger Forrest took an inbounds pass in the Claysburg end of the court, and outraced a defender around the edge for a big layup that gave the Crushers a 46-40 edge with just over two minutes left.

Two Kovalchic free throws pushed the Crushers’ lead to 48-40 before Claysburg sophomore guard Blake Kulick drained a 3-pointer to make it a 48-43 game with 1:16 left.

Page made all six of his six free throws over the next minute, however, to salt the game away for McCort.

“To (Claysburg’s) credit, they made a run at us, but our players never panicked,” Pfeil said. “Brady Page went off at the end of the game and hit all of those free throws, and Kaden Kovalchic was all over the glass for us tonight.”

McCort, which outrebounded Claysburg, 36-27, converted 16 of its 38 floor shots for a 42.1 percent clip while Claysburg made just 16 of 54 for 29.6 percent.

Harris said that the fact that his team still has an opportunity to reach the state tournament provides a silver lining.

“We still have a chance to get to the big tournament,” Harris said. “We just have to keep on playing better. Northern Cambria is the fourth seed and they’re good, but we’ll be ready.”

BISHOP MCCORT (54): Gallucci 3 5-6 12, Laughard 2 0-0 6, Forrest 3 0-0 7, Page 6 7-8 21, Kovalchic 2 4-6 8, Varga 0 0-0 0, West 0 0-0 0, Lewis 0 0-0 0, Newcomer 0 0-0 0. Totals – 16 16-20 54.

CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (44): Haney 4 2-5 11, C. Treon 5 3-5 15, Kulick 3 0-0 8, Cory Walter 0 0-0 0, G. Treon 4 0-1 10, Cole Walter 0 0-0 0, Knisely 0 0-0 0. Totals -16 5-11 44.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop McCort 17 10 12 15–54

Claysburg-Kimmel 8 8 11 17–44

3-point goals: Bishop McCort 6 (Page 2, Laughard 2, Gallucci, Forrest); Claysburg-Kimmel 7 (C. Treon 2, Kulick 2, G. Treon 2, Haney).

Records: Bishop McCort (16-8); Claysburg-Kimmel (20-6).

Officials: Jim Racchini, Doug Steve, John Nepsha.