Tri-Valley's Trey Porter (3), Braeden Doyle (14), Gavin Klock (15) and Matt Raulston (13) line up for an inbounds play during Wednesday's District 11 Class AA boys' basketball semifinal victory over Moravian Academy (Photo by Leroy Boyer).

ORWIGSBURG — Gavin Klock said the last time he had a scoring night like this, it was in youth basketball.

Wednesday, the Tri-Valley junior guard had a night for the scrapbook.

Klock buried four 3-pointers and scored a season-high 22 points as Tri-Valley downed Moravian Academy 45-30 in a District 11 Class AA boys’ basketball semifinal at Blue Mountain High School.

Klock scored 18 of his points in the first half, helping the Dawgs advance to a district final for the third time in four years.

Tri-Valley will face Schuylkill League Division II rival Marian, a 63-50 winner over Schuylkill Haven, in Saturday’s Class AA championship game at 5:30 p.m. at Martz Hall.

“On any given night you don’t know which player is going to be hot and he’s hot right now,” Tri-Valley coach Mike Masser said of Klock. “Gavin Klock stepped up tonight.”

The Dawgs (17-7) hadn’t played in 18 days since a Feb. 8 loss to Pottsville in the Schuylkill League quarterfinals. It showed early as Tri-Valley opened the game 1-for-12 from the field.

Klock hit a short jumper and a 3-pointer from the left wing in the first quarter as the teams battled to a 7-7 after one frame.

The 6-foot-1 guard caught fire in the second quarter, hitting a pair of 3-pointers in the first minute to put Tri-Valley ahead for good. He scored all 13 of the Dawgs’ points in the second period on 5-for-6 shooting as Tri-Valley built a 20-11 halftime lead.

“I was feeling great. I got some open shots and knocked them down,” Klock said. “The momentum started to swing our way. We were knocking down starts and getting better shots on the inside. It was going good for us.”

Tri-Valley shot 7-for-14 in the first half after its dismal start and then picked up the pace in the third quarter, using an aggressive defense to force turnovers and up the tempo.

Moravian Academy (4-19) committed eight of its 19 turnovers in the third quarter as the Dawgs slowly pulled away.

The Dawgs opened the third frame with a 10-5 run as Owen Miller had a steal and layup and buried a 3-pointer and Braeden Doyle added three points.

Senior 6-5 center Blake Schwartz also began to assert himself inside, scoring five of his seven points. Schwartz also dominated on the glass, pulling down 11 rebounds.

“We did what we had to do tonight. We didn’t play our best game, but we’re going to advance,” Masser said. “We got a little bit away from our game plan but we came back to it in the third quarter.

“We depend on our defense to win games. We went man and switched some stuff. That kept us in the game.”

Klock, who fouled out of the game with 2:07 remaining, added four more points in the fourth quarter. He was the only Tri-Valley player in double figures.

The victory moves the Dawgs one win away from accomplishing school history — Tri-Valley has never won a District 11 boys’ basketball championship.

“It feels great to get to the finals knowing that no one in our school has ever won one before and we have the opportunity to do it,” Klock said. “It feels great.”

Added Masser: “Tri-Valley has never won a district title in basketball in school history. We set that goal, but we have to come together to achieve it.

“We’ll play Marian for the third time this year. We split in the season, so it’s going to be a battle.”

Game Summary

District 11 Boys’ Basketball

Class AA Semifinal

At Blue Mountain HS

MORAVIAN ACADEMY (30) — Klotz 4 2-3 12, Gordon 1 0-0 2, Okune 4 0-0 8, King 1 0-0 2, Rodney 1 0-0 2, Perrucci 0 0-0 0, Woodworth 1 2-2 4, Eckman 0 0-2 0, Gianforcaro 0 0-0 0, Chihi 0 0-0 0. Totals 12 4-7 30.

TRI-VALLEY (45) — Schwartz 3 1-4 7, Miller 2 0-2 5, Porter 2 0-0 4, Doyle 1 1-2 3, Klock 9 0-3 22, Raulston 0 2-4 2, Wehry 0 2-2 2, Johnson 0 0-0 0. Totals 17 6-17 45.

Mor (4-19)              7 … 4 … 8 … 11 — 30

TV (17-7)                  7 … 13 … 12 … 13 — 45

3-point FGs: Klotz 2, Miller, Klock 4

Officials: Melusky, Towle, Wojciechowsky