POUGHKEEPSIE – Peekskill was not about to blow Norwich off the floor in the New York State Class A regional semifinals Wednesday night at Vassar College.

The Red Devils, instead, outworked Norwich on the glass, tracked down a few more loose ball scrambles, and advanced in the state playoffs with a 47-36 victory.

Peekskill, perennial state playoff – and state championship – contenders, meet up with Section IX champion Cornwall Friday night.

“I watched Norwich play against Elmira, and I was impressed with them,” said Peekskill coach Lou Panzanaro, he of 18 Section I titles and five state titles. “Norwich plays hard and plays with a lot of intensity. I told my kids they would be in for a ballgame.”

Peekskill played the role of frontrunner from the get-go jumping out to a 9-0 lead in the first quarter.

Josh Borfitz’s three ball with 3:45 left in the quarter broke the scoreless drought, and Vaughn Labor put back an offensive rebound narrowing the first-quarter margin to four.

Peekskill was able to re-grow its lead to 14 points midway through the second quarter. Jayme Gooding and Ralph Watts had a three-pointer apiece and added two-bucket jumpers as well, the latter by Watts made it 21-7 with 4;12 left in the half.