CRANBERRY TWP — In Friday’s opening round of the state basketball playoffs, North Catholic was on top of its game, driving and kicking, hitting treys in flurries that would overwhelm most opponents before reaching the respite provided by halftime.

But with its season on the line, Hickory proved stubborn and the Hornets hung around before finally succumbing in an 89-65 Class 4A decision at North’s gym.

North drained 13 treys, six of them coming in the first half. Time and time again, their lead would swell to double digits, only to have Hickory rally.

North Catholic's Max Hurray (21) drives to the hoop against Hickory's Ben Swanson, right, during Friday night's PIAA Class 4A first-round playoff in Cranberry Township. Hurray scored a game-high 25 points and North prevailed, 89-65. Seb Foltz/Special to the Eagle

Trailing 44-38 as the third quarter began, the Hornets made their first two attempts from the floor and trailed just 44-42. At that point, Hickory had made 19 of its 24 field goal attempts in the game, including 14 of 15 from inside the arc.

“We weren’t expecting them to shoot the ball as well as they did,” said North senior guard Matt Ellery. “But we knew we just had to stick to the game plan, keep playing within our system and we were able to pull away late.”

Beginning with Ellery’s 3-pointer with 6:52 left in the third period, North dropped a 26-10 run to finally put the Hornets in a hole from which they could not emerge.