Beaver Falls wanted to go up and down, making last night's WPIAL Class AA semifinal against North Catholic something you'd more likely see at an asphalt court in a city park than a wooden-floored basketball gymnasium.

The Tigers got what they wanted in terms of tempo, and it led to what they wanted in terms of their season -- a shot at a WPIAL title.

Beaver Falls (22-3) proved too quick and athletic for North Catholic (23-4), claiming a 67-58 victory at Chartiers Valley.

Todd Thomas led Beaver Falls with 23 points and David Phillips added 16. Henry Pwono led North Catholic with 20 and Matt Long had 15.

The Beaver Falls win, coupled with Jeannette's victory against Bishop Canevin, set up a much-anticipated matchup at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Palumbo Center. Beaver Falls beat Jeannette by 20 points Dec. 22.

"It will be an honor to compete against Jeannette, as it always is," Beaver Falls coach Doug Biega said. "I just hope we show up and compete."

North Catholic ran with Beaver Falls from the outset, played a 94-foot game and rested its hopes on a 3-2 matchup zone on defense. And it worked very well over the first 13 minutes or so.

Even so, that wasn't the design.

"That wasn't what we wanted to do, we definitely didn't want it to go up and down," North Catholic coach Dave Long said. "But, in all fairness to our kids, the game started to go up and down and they kind of got caught up in it."

Eventually, it caught up with the Trojans.

Beaver Falls, using a defense-turns-to-offense spurt, went on a 12-0 run into halftime, turning North Catholic's 28-24 lead into a 36-28 halftime deficit.

"It was all because of our defense," Biega said. "In our half-court offense, everyone in the world knows we have some holes. But when we play defense and we can get out and run up and down, I'll take my chances against just about anybody around here."

The Trojans got within four points early in the third quarter and within five a few minutes into the fourth quarter, but the Tigers wouldn't let the tables turn.

Now, it seems, Beaver Falls is playing the best basketball it has played all season. The Tigers dropped their first two games this season, but since then, Biega's squad has been victorious in 21 of 22 games, including the past 13 in a row.

Jeannette used a first-half surge to gain an advantage that it wouldn't relinquish, and the Jayhawks (19-4) earned a 62-54 victory against Bishop Canevin (15-13) at Gateway.

Junior guard Jordan Hall led Jeannette with 21 points and senior standout Terrelle Pryor scored 19 points, grabbed 12 rebounds, had 7 assists and 4 blocks. He was 7 for 9 from the field and 5 of 6 from the free-throw line.

The Jayhawks, built a 29-18 halftime lead and withstood a 35-point performance from Bishop Canevin's Steve Mackin.