DANVILLE — The first quarter was not played at the tempo Muncy coach Jason Gresh and his team like to play at. The normally fast-paced Indians were held to just five first-quarter points, and while they had only allowed two, knew the tempo needed to change or they would be in trouble.

That’s what they did.

Muncy went to a 2-2-1 full-court-press that gave Northwest fits as Muncy used 22 second-quarter points en route to beating Northwest, 63-51, Saturday afternoon in the District 4 Class AA semifinals.

“When we went to the press, we got more in our game. It was more of the flow that we want to play at,” Gresh said.

Not only did the press cause turnovers, helped by a very long and quick Muncy team, but Muncy converted those turnovers into points consistently and focused on getting good shots at the rim, something they wanted to focus on against a smaller Northwest team. The inside effort was led by Ross Eyer. The 6-foot, 4-inch Eyer hurt the Rangers earlier in the season from the perimeter, it was his work inside the paint this time that put points up on the board as he had fourteen points in the paint en route to a game-high 20 points.

“Last time we played them my 3-ball killed them so we knew they were going to be focused on that and less on my inside so we really tried to just pound the ball inside and try to get me looks down there,” Ross Eyer said.

He was helped along by his cousin Branson, who scored 20 points for a game-high. Branson, like Ross, didn’t settle for as many outside shots and attacked the paint.

“We were pretty confident going into the game. We knew we had to do and we knew we had to execute,” Branson Eyer said. “It’s more not less changing things, it’s doing what we do and taking the game over.”

That’s what they did in that second quarter. After a first quarter played at a pretty fast pace considering the seven total points, Muncy wanted to ramp it up a notch with that 2-2-1 press and it worked.

Branson Eyer got the quarter started with a 3 and they put the press on, forcing a turnover that Noah Confer converted for five quick points by Muncy. A 3 by sensational freshman Josh Miner cut the lead back to two a few minutes later, but the real onslaught was about to begin. A free throw by London Boring was followed up with three quick turnovers that Muncy turned into six points and they led 19-8 midway through the quarter, forcing a timeout. Northwest calmed down the rest of the quarter and went into half down just 12, but the damage had been done.

“The press makes you want to go fast, and we did not handle it. We made some mistakes. We floated some passes. We stared at guys that we were trying to throw the ball to and you know, with a team that’s as athletic and quick as Muncy, it’s game over,” Northwest coach Sean Miller said.

Muncy extended their lead to 16 with just under seven minutes left in the quarter on a Gio Persun basket, but Northwest start to chip away and a Miner 3 at the midway point of the quarter had quickly cut the lead back down to 11. Muncy would balloon it back to 15 again, though, on a Branson Eyer layup with two minutes to go. Muncy would get the lead to 16 before two late baskets by Miner and and Gary McClendon made it a 46-34 game.

The Rangers tried desperately to rally in the third quarter, but it just wasn’t meant to be. A McLendon layup with just over two to play got the deficit to nine, but Northwest couldn’t get that key stop down the stretch as Muncy was able to run late game offense effectively and advance to the district finals. A late-game inbound double-pass from Branson to Ross was as good as it looks during football season for the two, putting the exclamation mark on the game as Muncy played an efficient fourth quarter.

“We’ve got a ticket to states which was big. A couple more weeks with these boys. I can’t ask for more. Now, the focus turns to Wyalusing and we have to get prepared for a really good team and they’re experienced by district title last year,” Gresh said.

MUNCY (63)

Eli Weikel 1 0-0 2; Loudon Boring 3 2-3 8; Noah Confer 1 0-0 2; Ross Eyer 8 3-3 20; Eli Slamka 0 0-0 0; Giovanni Persun 3 1-4 7; Branson Eyer 6 5-10 18; Michael Fry 2 0-0 6. Totals 24 11-20 63.

NORTHWEST (51)

Gary McLendon 8 1-1 17; Chase Biller 3 2-2 8; John Savakinus 0 0-0 0; Alex Kopco 1 0-0 3; Josh Miner 6 2-2 14; Jake Piestrak 2 0-0 4; Ryan Miner 0 0-0 0. Totals 20 5-5 51.

Muncy 5 22 19 17 — 63

Northwest 2 13 19 17 — 51

3-point goals: Muncy 4 (Fry 2, B. Eyer 1, R. Eyer 1), NOrthwest 6 (J. Miner 5, Kopco 1).