WILLIAMSBURG — The early portion of the first quarter couldn’t have gone better during Friday night’s District 6 Class 1A boys basketball semifinal for top seed Williamsburg as it took an early 10-2 lead.

But fifth-seed Bishop Carroll Catholic took the momentum and ran not long after that.

The Huskies went on a 16-4 run to end the opening stanza as they pummeled the Blue Pirates, 73-47, at Williamsburg High School and punched their ticket to the PIAA postseason.

“It’s just how hard we work in October,” Jace Casses said of the comeback. “The stuff that (BC coach Cosie Aliquo) puts us through, it’s for a reason. How much we run, the defense, it shows. Them not being able to bring the ball up the court as they’re usually known to, just shows how hard we work.”

The win sets up a night with Conemaugh Valley for the Huskies on Wednesday at Mount Aloysius College with tip time set for 7:30 p.m. in the District 6 championship as they look to win their sixth title in the last nine years. The Blue Jays crushed Saint Joseph’s Catholic Academy, 60-30, Friday.

“He’s been super,” Aliquo said of the Huskies’ top point producer. “I’m the lucky one. He brings it every day to practice and to the games. He can make a shot and you never even know it. He just goes out and plays.”

After the Blue Pirates jumped out to the early outburst — powered by seven of Ethan Reffner’s 15 points — the Huskies went to work as Ben Kirsch knocked down a putback cutting the deficit to 10-6.

Casses continued the run as he drained two of his three 3-pointers for an 18-14 advantage after the opening stanza.

“We came out and threw the first punch, which is exactly what we wanted to do,” Williamsburg coach Jeff Detwiler said. “The first half, we missed some shots we normally make. Casses hit some tough shots. Everyone in the area knows how good he is. He hit some step-back 3-pointers with a hand in his face. He hit some tough shots.”

Casses’ work continued in the second quarter as he added another one from downtown, and Winston Hall-Campbell added a layup off a turnover for a 34-23 Husky halftime lead.

Ryen Myers took over in the third as he drained three from beyond the arc, scoring 11 of his 20 points as the Huskies scored 27 points during the third quarter.

“I said back in November that he was going to ruffle some feathers in practice,” Aliquo said of the freshman. “I couldn’t be more proud of him.”

Casses’ layup with about two minutes left in the third gave Bishop Carroll a 61-38 lead.

“We wanted to key on Casses and make some other guys beat us,” Detwiler said. “Give credit to (Myers). He had a huge game tonight and stepped up for Carroll.”

Aliquo credited his team’s resiliency for how they’ve come together late in the season.

“They never give up,” Aliquo said. “We’ve been beaten down by a lot of good teams, and they just keep battling. They just know that if we keep working, good things are going to happen.”

The good news for the Blue Pirates is that their season isn’t over, but it will come down to Wednesday night’s consolation game as they host Saint Joe’s. The winner of that game will get a team out of District 5 in a PIAA Class 1A play-in game.

“We’ve got to bounce back here,” Detwiler said. “It’s just a bummer tonight because it’s a missed opportunity. These guys have worked really hard this year.”

BISHOP CARROLL (73): Casses 8 3-6 22, Kirsch 5 1-5 13, Hall-Campbell 2 0-2 4, Myers 7 1-2 20, Phillips 2 0-0 4, Lucko 2 0-0 5, Tremel 1 0-0 2, Conner 1 0-0 3, Holtz 0 0-0 0. Totals: 28 5-15 73.

WILLIAMSBURG (47): Isenberg 2 0-0 4, Reffner 6 1-4 15 Harker 4 0-0 8, Uplinger 7 0-0 18, Clark 1 0-0 2, Clark 1 0-0 2, Mock 0 0-0 0, Becker 0 0-0 0. Totals: 20 1-4 47.

SCORE BY QUARTERS

Bishop Carroll 18 16 27 12 — 73

Williamsburg 14 9 15 9 — 47

3-point goals: Bishop Carroll 10 (Casses 3, Lucko, Conner, Myers 5), Williamsburg 2 (Reffner)

Records: Bishop Carroll (12-12), Williamsburg (18-6).

Officials: Damon Rickens, Mike Andrews, Ethan Vipond.