The Marauders knocked down 11 3-pointers as they won by a commanding 77-44 margin over the Rockets at the Pleasant Valley gymnasium to punch their ticket to the PIAA postseason.

“You could tell by practice leading up to this they were eager to back on the floor and get back to competing,” BG coach Ryan Lestochi said. “We started a little slower that I would’ve liked, then we really found our rhythm and turned it on.”

Their reward is a visit from No. 4 River Valley of the Heritage Conference on Tuesday night at 7 p.m. in the semifinal round.

Both teams traded buckets early. Jase Watkins drained a fade-away jumper to tie the game at 10 as he led the Rockets with 10 points.

Mirror photo by Patrick Waksmunski Bishop Guilfoyle's Alex Krimmel puts up a shot by Southern Huntingdon's Cohen Snyder.

Alex Krimmel, though, had his shooter’s touch from downtown as he answered with a pair of 3s on his way to a game-high 20 points as BG took a 26-13 lead after the opening stanza.

“We started shooting the ball pretty well. It started with Alex; he’s a great shooter,” Lestochi said. “His mouth starts watering when he sees a 2-3 zone. He did a great job getting us going. We want him to be aggressive seeking shots.”

In the second, the Marauder defense turned up the pressure, and that gave them the separation they needed as they grounded the Rocket offense to just six points.

That helped spark their offensive scoring balance as Troy Ruggery scored from downtown to take a 31-15 lead early in the second.

“After the first quarter, we talked about ramping our defense up,” Lestochi said. “It wasn’t where we wanted it to be after the first quarter. We ramped the pressure up and the intensity up, and that led into our offense.”

Krimmel had his fifth long ball of the night to give BG a 46-19 lead at the break.

“They’re here year in and year out,” Southern Huntingdon coach Stacy Horne said. “You just never know when that Cinderella might happen. It’s one thing we were working on — don’t look at it like a David and Goliath moment. We had a decent first quarter for the first six minutes and then they just started hitting 3s like crazy there.”

The Marauders added on in the third as Krimmel drew the bonus free-throw early in the period before a Grant Okonak jumper activated the running clock.

“This is the first experience with us at Triple-A; we’re usually a Double-A school,” Horne said. “That changes the dynamics of the playoffs. This is a whole new animal for us. I’m proud of the boys. They didn’t give up; they did what they could.”

Taurean Consiglio added 11 points. Before the game, he was recognized for having scored his 1,000th career point last week.

“We’re not familiar with River Valley,” Lestochi said. “The last couple of years we’ve only played Laurel Highlands teams in the playoffs.”

SOUTHERN HUNTINGDON (44): Grissinger 1 0-0 3, Snyder 2 2-4 6, Watkins 3 4-5 10, Lessley 4 0-0 8, Creswell 2 0-0 4, Oswald 1 2-2 4, Horne 1 0-0 2, Pershing 2 0-0 5, Neuder 2 0-0 4. Totals: 17 8-11 44.

BISHOP GUILFOYLE (77): Kissell 1 1-4 3, Ruggery 4 0-0 9, Krimmel 4 1-1 9, G. Okonak 4 1-1 9, Consiglio 5 0-0 11, C. Okonak 1 2-2 5, Lestochi 2 0-0 4, Misiura 1 0-0 3, Baker 1 0-0 2, Shellenberger 0 0-0 0, Lightner 0 3-4 3, Ianuzzi 1 0-0 2, Walters 0 0-0 0, Wheeler 0 0-0 0, Gioiosa 0 0-0 0, Singer 2 0-0 6. Totals: 29 8-12 77.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Southern Huntingdon 13 6 14 11 – 44

Bishop Guilfoyle 26 20 16 15 – 77

3-point field goals: Southern Huntingdon 2 (Grissinger, Pershing), Bishop Guilfoyle 11 (Ruggery, Krimmel 5, C. Okonak, Consiglio, Misiura, Singer 2)

Records: Southern Huntingdon (15-9), Bishop Guilfoyle (21-4).

Officials: Frank Garritano, John Nepsha, Jim McLaughlin