“It’s not how you start, but how you finish.” That’s how the old saying goes right?

Well, whoever said it must’ve had the Joliet Catholic boys basketball team on his mind.

JCA, the top overall seed in the Class 3A Hinsdale South Sectional, hosted 15th-seeded Elmwood Park in the Joliet Catholic Regional semifinals Wednesday. In the early going, both teams struggled offensively as the game held tight.

When the second quarter came around, though, Joliet Catholic’s shooters finally got hot.

Danny Cervantes came off the bench to nail four shots from beyond the arc while Donavyn Simmons hit four himself.

The JCA defense did the rest as the Hilltoppers took down the Tigers 60-43.

JCA advances to the regional championship game No. 7 St. Francis.

Joliet Catholic (20-11) was far from sharp on offense in the opening period, shooting around 20 percent in the opening eight minutes. The game was tied 13-13 with 5:18 left in the opening half before the Hilltoppers went on a 10-0 run to separate themselves as the contest never got back within single digits the rest of the way.

“Any day you win in the playoffs is going to be a pretty good day,” JCA coach Adam DeGroot said. “Obviously, we’d like to clean some things up. We knew (Elmwood Park) was going to come out in zone and we’d have to hit some shots. In the first quarter we didn’t.

“I was just telling our boys that in the playoffs the games can feel even longer. You just have to keep being who you are and do those things we normally do. The shots eventually started falling after we started making some of those hustle plays. We started rebounding, getting some deflections and the shots started hitting for us.”

A key component to the turnaround was Cervantes’ effort off the bench. His first triple came in the final minute of the opening period to give JCA a 9-7 edge entering the second. Cervantes’ layup with 5:18 left in the period tied things up and a Simmons triple 27 seconds later kicked off the 10-0 run.

Cervantes’ trey shortly after Simmons’ gave the Hilltoppers their first multiple possession lead of the evening and signaled the beginning of the end for the Tigers.

“When Danny is hitting shots we’re a very, very difficult team to beat,” DeGroot said. “He’s kind of been our three or four scorer all year long. When you look at our key victories, he’s been massive for us. In order for us to make a playoff run he’s going to have to hit some shot for us, especially Friday night.”

Cervantes and Simmons both finished with 18 points while Brady Tunkel (eight) and Elias Passehl (seven) came up big down low. Cervantes credited the team unity for helping the Hilltoppers shake off the slow start.

“We got connected in the second half,” he said. “We trusted our teammates, played harder and woke up after the first quarter.”

Simmons seconded his fellow junior’s sentiments.

“We played together, spread the ball around and hit open 3s,” he said. “The first quarter was pretty close and we weren’t really playing together. After we got to the rim and knocked down 3s things came together for us.”

Elmwood Park, which made the regional semis after knocking off Intrinsic Charter in the regional quarterfinals, was led by Scotty Ruiz with 16 points. While they managed to get within 11 in the final two minutes of the game, the Tigers trailed by as many as 19 the same period.

Now the Hilltoppers will be tasked with defending their home court. DeGroot said the group will enjoy the evening before preparing for a “fun” matchup this weekend.

“I’m happy we found a way to win a basketball game” DeGroot said. “It’s going to be a fun atmosphere on Friday night.”