CLAYSBURG — Sometimes in a basketball game, you just run into a team that just shoots the lights out.

During its District 6 Class 2A boys basketball consolation game Thursday night against No. 4 Northern Cambria, second seed Claysburg-Kimmel ran into that perfect storm bringing a historic season to sudden halt.

The Colts’ Parker Shutty and Zachary Cavallo combined for 41 points as they upset the Bulldogs, 60-46, to clinch their spot in the PIAA postseason.

“They’re two very good shooters,” Northern Cambria coach Clint Gochnour said. “Parker can hit from anywhere from the gym when he’s hot, and that really got us going. Once we start hitting 3s, our team feeds off of that.”

The loss ended Claysburg’s season at 20-6.

After an initial Colt 3-pointer, the Bulldogs answered with a 12-4 run as Brayden Haney drained a putback and Gavin Treon added on a jumper late in the frame to take a 12-7 lead after the first.

The Colts took control from there as they exploded for an 19-4 run in the second. They scored five times from downtown, including two from Shutty — one in the closing seconds — to take a 26-16 lead at the break.

“We went cold the last two games, and that hurt,” Claysburg-Kimmel coach Mike Harris said. “Defensively, we were getting on the shooters, but they didn’t miss. (Cavallo), he was hot. (Shutty) was tough, too. We were pressing; they got a lot of runouts. There’s nothing you can do; that’s just basketball.”

Shutty lead all scorers with 23 points while Cavallo added 18.

The Bulldogs cut the deficit down to eight in the third as Cole Walter put away a layup, but that’s about as close as they got the rest of the way.

Cavallo helped keep the margin steady, scoring 10 of his points, including on two 3s, to make it 40-31 after the stanza.

Haney, in his final game as a Bulldog, was held to a team-high 13 points for the Bulldogs.

“We run a nice matchup zone defense, so it allows us to pass him off the guy,” Gochnour said. “We don’t lose (Haney) during the course of the game compared to just putting one guy on him, where it allows him to come off screens and attack.”

Shutty’s 10 points in the fourth helped bury the Bulldogs for the season.

While the season ended on a sour note, the Bulldogs have plenty to be proud of, including posting a 20-win season. The program at the time Harris inherited it was coming off a two-win campaign just over a decade ago.

“Twenty-win season, went to the ICC championship, we had a 13-game winning streak,” Harris said. “There’s a lot of firsts for this team. Brayden Haney, all-time leading scorer at Claysburg. He’s the best player I’ve ever coached. The seniors gave a lot. The seniors are the winningest seniors in the history of Claysburg-Kimmel. I’m proud of all of them.”

Harris is also feeling optimistic about where the program is heading as the offseason begins as he says goodbye to the five seniors who helped the Bulldogs enjoy a breakthrough season.

“We started changing the culture,” he said. “When we had open gyms 11 years ago, one guy showed up. Now we get junior high kids coming in. We got all of these guys showing up to open gyms, and we’re working. Guys are talking about next season already. That wouldn’t happen before. The culture is here.”

Northern Cambria will travel to the loser of today’s WPIAL championship between Jeanette and Sewickley Academy on March 7 in the first round of inter-districts.

NORTHERN CAMBRIA (60): Farrell 1 1-2 3, Blickenderfer 1 0-0 2, Fox 2 0-0 4, Cavallo 7 0-0 18, Shutty 9 2-4 23, Bodek 2 0-0 6, Butterbaugh 2 0-0 4, Smarsh 0 0-0 0, Bougher 0 0-0 0, Zan. Nagle 0 0-0 0. Totals: 24 3-8 60.

CLAYSBURG-KIMMEL (46): Haney 5 2-2 13, C. Treon 2 0-0 5, Cor. Walter 4 0-0 8, Kulik 2 0-0 6, G. Treon 3 0-0 7, Col. Walter 0 0-0 0, Knisely 1 0-0 3, Fee 0 0-0 0, Claar 0 0-0 0, Strayer 0 0-0 0, Bass 0 0-0 0, Mock 0 0-0 0. Totals: 19 2-2 46.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Northern Cambria 7 19 14 20 – 60

Claysburg-Kimmel 12 4 15 15 – 46

3-point field goals: Northern Cambria 9 (Bilek 2, Cavallo 4, Shutty 3), Claysburg-Kimmel 6 (Haney, C. Treon, Kulik 2, Knisely, G. Treon)

Records: Northern Cambria (17-8), Claysburg-Kimmel (20-6).