It's no secret that Tyler Urban is a dominant force on the football field, evidenced by his Division I commitment to the University of Maryland and his selection as the East Elite defensive player of the year.

But the Norwin senior's skills don't stop there. The powerful 6-foot-4 linebacker also is one of the key reasons that the Knights basketball team has rebounded from an 0-2 start in section play and is making a run at back-to-back Section 1-AAAA titles.

Urban's strength and agility were on display Friday night as his hard work in the paint netted 12 third-quarter points en route to an 82-56 win over Hempfield (9-10, 6-4), which improved the Knights to 13-5 overall and 8-2 in section play.

"We really took it to them," Urban said. "We knew, being a section game, that it was going to be rough, but we pretty much took care of them."

Norwin took a 38-17 lead into the halftime break after outscoring the Spartans 18-3 in the second quarter.

In the third period, Urban handled nearly all the offense for the Knights with a highlight reel of offensive rebounds, putbacks and strong takes to the hoop.

He was the only Norwin player to score a two-point field goal in the quarter, although senior Steve Removcik added a three and three free throws.

"It looked like they were trying to cover us on the outside," Urban said. "We were spreading them out, and I just found a corner or open space to get the ball."

The power forward finished the contest with 18 points and 11 rebounds, improving his season average of nearly a double-double per game.

Removcik led the scoring for Norwin with 20 points, while seniors Adam Dominick and Mike Shanahan each added 11.

Shanahan, a Pitt football recruit who drew the attendance of Pitt football coaches Dave Wannstedt and Matt Cavenaugh to The Castle, was the focus of the Hempfied defense for most of the game, which opened up the paint for Urban.

"We made a run. Our size helped. Hempfield got to the rim a little bit, but they had trouble shooting over the top. We got some run outs, and when you get the ball to Mike and Tyler down low, they're tough to stop," Norwin coach Lynn Washowich said.

"You can't teach that. We're just very blessed to have a talented group of kids. We're fortunate to have ball players. These kids are tough."

The victory was Norwin's 10th in its last 11 games, a streak that began when Shanahan rejoined the lineup after a finger injury, which opened up scoring opportunities for several other players, including Urban.

"We were coming off football season and a bunch of injuries at the beginning of the season. Now, everybody's healthy, so we're in full rotation, practicing with each other more and getting to know each other's tendencies," he said.

"If we play like we can, we can definitely get to the WPIAL championships."

While WPIALs is the ultimate goal, Washowich is concentrating on preparing his team for the postseason, something that his group continues to progress toward as it trails only Franklin Regional (13-5, 9-1) in the section standings.

"We want to get better for the postseason. We have to get better day by day and hopefully make a run in the postseason. I think we're close. That was a great performance (Friday night)," the coach said.

"We're making strides on defense. We still have to shoot it better, specifically from the foul line. Our weak-side rotation in man-to-man is no where near where it needs to be. But we are close. Hopefully in a week to 10 days, we're where we need to be."

The first round of the WPIAL playoffs are scheduled to begin Feb. 7, which is right on Norwin's timeline for success.