For a team that barely snuck into the MCAL playoffs, the Marin Catholic High boys basketball squad has come a long way.

The Wildcats won their second North Coast Section Division IV playoff contest Saturday night, turning back pesky visitor Arcata 67-63 in a taut quarterfinal tilt.

No. 4 Marin Catholic (15-6) advances to the semifinals Wednesday in San Francisco against No. 1 University, the overwhelming favorite for the Division IV crown.

The Wildcats had their hands full against No. 5 Arcata (18-8) until a team-wide scoring outburst led to a 17-8 fourth-quarter run.

Sophomore guard Dante Stallone sealed the victory by rattling in both ends of a one-and-one free throw with 16 seconds remaining.

“Dante came to the ball on the inbound pass and he knew he was going to get fouled,” MC coach Mike Saia said. “But he had no problem with it. He stepped up and sank both free throws.”

MC guard Charles Williams, who led the Wildcats with 22 points, said players such as Stallone are the main reason his team has continued to improve.

“When the season started, it took us a minute to come together as a team,” said Williams, who also corraled seven rebounds, five at the offensive end. “But we finally figured out what works for us. We play as a team and everybody believes in one another and everybody contributes.”

What certainly worked for the Wildcats on Saturday was a balanced scoring attack and a team-wide desire to pull down rebounds.

JR Bosch, a 5-foot, 10-inch senior point guard, was an unlikely leading rebounder for the Wildcats. But somehow he topped the stat sheet with eight, even after leaving the game for several minutes after rolling his ankle late in the first quarter

“The rebounds were all positioning and desire,” said Bosch, who also contributed 12 points and two steals. “The big guys did a great job of boxing out against a big team and the guards were there to pick up the loose balls.”

The game was nip-and-tuck early. Neither team led by more than six points until the Wildcats fashioned a 9-0 run early in the second period, capped off by a twisting drive through the lane and layup by Williams.

Before the quarter was finished, however, Arcata climbed back into contention by reeling off a 9-0 run of its own.

MC led 40-36 at halftime as Williams made a 3-pointer just before the buzzer sounded.

The long field goal from the corner punctuated a prolific scoring surge by Williams, who knocked down 13 points in the quarter after scoring a single field goal in the opening eight minutes.

Williams explained his sudden hot hand in the simplest terms.

“My team believes I can score, so I just put the ball in the hoop,” Williams said.

The game turned into a stalemate early in the second half when MC’s scoring touch briefly went ice cold and Arcata’s Luke Moxon — game-high scorer with 23 — kept finding his way to the basket for layups. The third quarter ended in a 47-47 deadlock.

Moxon scored the opening basket in the final stanza on another easy bucket in the paint.

But the tide turned in MC’s favor a moment later when Stallone and Caden Maas buried shots from beyond the arc on back-to-back possessions.

Marin Catholic pulled away with under three minutes remaining when Bosch canned a corner three and Williams crashed the offensive boards for a rebound and follow shot. Williams followed that up with a whirlwind move through the lane for a layup and a free throw.

Maas, who had 19 points, five rebounds and two steals, led the Wildcats’ long-range shooting brigade, accounting for five of MC’s 10 three-point baskets.

Marin Catholic also had major contributions off the bench from Walker Waite, who yanked down two key offensive rebounds, and Jake Ryan, who came up with two impactful blocked shots down the stretch.