Holy Cross and Old Forge each trailed at halftime before dominating late Sunday as the two District 2 finalists advanced to the state quarterfinals of the Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Class 2A boys tournament.
Both teams will play again Wednesday where, if they win again, they can set up a state semifinal rematch of the District 2 final.
Holy Cross erased a two-point halftime deficit in a 55-39 victory over Church Farm at Bethlehem Freedom.
Old Forge trailed by a dozen midway through the third quarter before rallying past Karns City, 51-46, at Mifflin County High School in Lewistown.
The teams will play in a doubleheader at Bethlehem Liberty Wednesday.
District 2 champion Holy Cross (21-6) advances to face District 12 champion Constitution from Philadelphia (20-8) in the opener at 6.
The quarterfinal trip is the eighth for the Crusaders since the school was created in time for the 2007-08 school year with the merger of Bishop O’Hara from Dunmore and Bishop Hannan from Scranton. The most recent visit came in 2019 when Holy Cross was eliminated by Constitution, 68-56.
The teams met five times in seven years in state tournaments between 2013 and 2019 with Constitution winning the last four. The Holy Cross win came in 2013 in the quarterfinals on the way to the finals. They have met once in the second round, three times in the quarterfinals and in the 2018 semifinal which Constitution won, 69-64.
Old Forge (17-9) also sees a familiar opponent in District 3 champion Lancaster Mennonite (18-9). The Blue Devils are making their 12th quarterfinal appearance, dating all the way back to 1930.
Last season, Old Forge went to Lancaster Mennonite for a state quarterfinal and won, 69-64, in double overtime before falling to Constitution, 62-60, in the semifinal.
Holy Cross 55, Church Farm 39
Logan Tierney scored nine points in the third quarter and Kaeden Carr scored seven in the fourth quarter as Holy Cross blew past Church Farm in the second half.
Tierney keyed a 20-5 third quarter on his way to finishing with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The third-quarter surge gave the Crusaders a 39-26 lead.
Will Kittrell finished with 14 points while Carr had 13.
Kittrell hit the basket that put Holy Cross ahead to stay breaking a 26-26 tie and starting a 13-point streak to end the third quarter.
Gavriel Henriquez-Peralta led Church Farm with 13 points.
Holy Cross played the game in the absence of head coach Al Callejas Sr. for health reasons.
Old Forge 51, Karns City 46
Old Forge cautiously worked through foul trouble in the first half, remaining just close enough early in the third quarter to allow room to pull out the game with a 28-11 advantage over the final 13 minutes.
The Blue Devils scored 8 of the last 10 points of the third quarter to get within 37-31.
Ayden Davitt scored 10 of his 20 points and Mario Samony scored 8 of his 11 in the fourth quarter when Old Forge outscored Karns City, 20-9, to pull out the win.
Joe Macciocco also scored 11 points.
Old Forge used nine players to navigate the first half, which ended with three Blue Devils sitting on the bench because of fouls.
Matt Kuckla missed the last 10 minutes, Davitt the last eight and Macciocco the last six, but Old Forge remained within 27-21.
Karns City, which was led by Jake Cramer’s 18 points, threatened to pull away with an 8-2 start to the second half.
