VANDERGRIFT — Isaac DeGregorio has seemingly unlimited range.

And a penchant for getting scalding hot.

The North Catholic guard showed off both skills Saturday afternoon against Westmont Hilltop in the first round of the PIAA Class 3A playoffs, draining seven 3-pointers in the first half to help the Trojans to a 74-55 victory at Kiski Area High School.

“He shot the ball well,” said North Catholic coach Dave DeGregorio and Isaac's father. “They started out in a 2-3 (zone) and we got some pretty good looks.”

It's easy to get good looks when you shoot from 35 feet.

Isaac DeGregorio banged home some long-rang 3s on the way to 26 first-half points.

He finished with 33 and North Catholic cruised in the second half, doing enough to thwart any Westmont Hilltop thought at a comeback.

North Catholic (25-2) led by as many as 20 in the first half. Westmont Hilltop got as close as 10 in the third quarter but could never get the Trojans lead down to single digits.

Jackson Paschall added 13 points for North Catholic.

“Jackson's effort is just really good right now, running the floor,” Coach DeGregorio said.

Jake Tomer also had a big game. He scored just seven points, but was a big presence inside for the Trojans.

“Jake has just been playing lights out over the last month,” Coach DeGregorio said.

North Catholic's success this season has hinged on defense and that unit was strong again.

The Trojans forced turnovers with a half-court trap, but not as many as Coach DeGregorio had hoped.

Still, they led to some easy transition points and Isaac DeGregorio did the rest with his long-distance 3s and crisp passing from the point.

Ashton Fortson scored 20 points to lead Westmont Hilltop (19-8).

North Catholic will play Aliquippa in the second round of the state playoffs at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at North Hills.

Coach DeGregorio said he was pleased his team came out hot coming off a WPIAL championship and a long layoff.

“You don't talk about that with them because you don't want to plant that in their heads,” the coach said. “Sometimes you do have a little lull after that. But I give our kids credit. They came in and played hard, especially defensively.”

WESTMONT HILLTOP 55

Ashton Fortson 6-13 7-11 20, Landon Weeks 3-9 1-2 10, Austin Spencer 2-6 1-4 5, Tanner Civis 3-7 4-6 10, Aries Ray 1-4 0-0 2, Dylan Craft 1-4 0-0 2, Josh Elders 2-2 0-0 4, Tyler Mosorjak 0-0 2-2 2, Kasmyre Martin 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 18-45 15-25 55

NORTH CATHOLIC 74

Jackson Paschall 6-11 1-4 13, Isaiah Jackson 1-6 0-0 3, Ryan Feczko 2-5 5-5 9, Jake Tomer 3-6 0-0 7, Isaac DeGregorio 11-22 4-7 33, Anthony Serventi 0-2 0-0 0, Anderson Ammerman 1-2 1-3 2, Hans Rottmann 2-4 0-0 6, Connor Maddazon 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 26-58 11-19 74.

Westmont Hilltop 11 17 19 8 — 55

North Catholic23 21 17 13 — 74

3-point goals: Westmont Hilltop 4 (Fortson, Weeks 3); North Catholic (Jackson, Tomer, DeGregorio 7, Rottmann 2)

Wednesday: North Catholic vs. Aliquippa, 7:30 p.m. at North Hills