STATESVILLE — Technically speaking, it was an upset, but it didn’t look much like one.

A.L. Brown’s third-seeded boys led all the way in a convincing 67-55 victory over second-seeded Mooresville in a 3A North Piedmont Conference semifinal on Thursday night. Both are in the state playoffs.

The Wonders’ reward — if it can be called that — is a third shot at West Rowan (24-0) in tonight’s tourney championship game at 8 at Statesville High. West has handled the Wonders 75-39 and 75-54.

The Wonders, who are 2-1 against Mooresville, have experienced a few fourth-quarter meltdowns, but coach Shelwyn Klutz’s guys stayed calm this time. Mooresville never got closer than five in the fourth quarter.

“We did a nice job of handling pressure,” said Klutz. “We limited turnovers, made our free throws.”

The Wonders (18-6) had better balance than Dominique Dawes. John Graham led with 13 points off the bench. Big man Justin Robinson scored 12 and guards Timmy Allison and Brandon Thomas added 12 and 11, respectively.

“All of us were playing at our top level,” said Robinson.

Chris Winford had 16 for coach Steven Mauney’s Blue Devils, while Darien Fish added 15.

The Wonders spurted to a quick 12-4 lead, but Mooresville (18-6) closed within a single point in the second quarter after shot-blocker Robinson left the game with two fouls and a touch of the flu. But that’s when Wonder post man Graham, a 6-foot baseball star who’s built like a linebacker, scored seven quick points in the lane to keep the Devils at bay.

“Just power,” smiled Graham, a lefty who looks like he could bench-press a condominium. “I spend lots of time in the weight room with Coach Hag (Todd Hagler).”

Led by Graham’s effort, the Wonders got 28 points from reserves. Included were a flying lefty tip-in by Lucious Miller, a huge 3-pointer by Terry Collins and a bucket by Josh Reeves after the Devils closed to 52-47 with 2:49 remaining.

“We constantly preach that it takes the whole team,” said Klutz. “We talk about coming off the bench and adding to the fire. That’s exactly what our reserves did tonight.”

The Wonders salted it away with 11-for-12 foul shooting down the stretch. The 6-foot-6 Robinson knocked down four of those, including both ends of a key one-and-one.

Mooresville appeared to have momentum after Gary McConnell sank a 3-pointer at the halftime buzzer, but Robinson turned things around with a swooping dunk early in the third quarter. Robinson was winding up for an encore in the final minute when he was intentionally fouled.

“That first dunk boosted us up and I had plans for another good one,” he said. “Unfortunately, I was grabbed.”

Both Klutz and Robinson noticed two rather tall spectators — West’s Donte Minter and Junior Hairston — lurking in the arena on a scouting mission.

“You can’t help but notice those two trees when they walk in the door,” laughed Klutz.

“We’re going to go out and play hard (against West) and see what happens. We’ve got nothing to lose. Hopefully, my guys will have some fun.”

A.L. BROWN (67) — Graham 13, Robinson 12, Allison 12, Thomas 11, Miller 6, Barrier 6, Collins 3, Patterson 2, Reeves 2, Ardrey, Blackmon.

MOORESVILLE (55) — Winford 16, Fish 15, Locey 6, McConnell 6, Brice 5, Brawley 3, Lackey 2, Patterson 2, Craig, Peacock.

A.L. Brown 12 17 16 22 — 67

Mooresville 4 20 11 20 — 55