Just when Shawnee Heights looked give Piper a scare, the Pirates put their foot down for good.

Piper used a 15-0 run to start the fourth quarter in its Kansas Class 5A quarterfinal and rolled over United Kansas Conference rival, 70-52, on Thursday in Emporia. The Pirates advance to the semifinals for the second straight year.

Piper (20-3) swept the two meetings earlier in the season, and looked to blow the doors off White Auditorium after a PJ Moore three in the corner for a 37-21 lead with 1:45 left before halftime. The Pirates scored the nets by hitting 7-of-10 three-point attempts in the first half.

But Moore picked up a technical, and from that point, the Thunderbirds mounted a charge fueled by a pair of Ontarius Emmott three's. Heights pulled to 50-48 after a Da'Quan Lee stickback at the horn of the third quarter.

"The tech certainly didn't help, and we got out of sync there for awhile, and missed some shots while Heights hit some big buckets," said Piper head coach Steve Wallace. 

But the Thunderbirds (19-4) cooled while freshman Isaiah Sayles hit two inside buckets, including one for an and-one, and junior Johnny Vogel canned a three on the left side. Then junior Alamar Brooks got a steal and layup, then hit a three on the right corner, and suddenly Piper exploded for a 65-48 cushion with 3:11 left.

"We started moving the ball better and cranked up our defensive intensity, challenging shots better and getting out in transition," Wallace said. 

Moore led the Pirates with 18 points and eight rebounds, while Sayles posted 16 points. Jaret Sanchez paced the T-Birds with 16 points and seven boards

Piper will face No. 1 seed Highland Park at 4 pm on Friday.