Alexandria never trailed in a 57-39 victory over Hill-Murray in a Class 3A girls basketball state tournament quarterfinal Wednesday at Maturi Pavilion.
The third-seeded Cardinals (25-4) pulled away from the unseeded Pioneers with a 10-0 run to begin the second half. The Cardinals took a 16-point lead off the run.
"Pace was huge," Cardinals coach Wendy Kohler said. "We're at our best when we get out and go. This team has done it all year long."
The young Cardinals jumped to a 10-6 lead by scoring on each of their first five possessions. Sophomore Hadley Thul led Alexandria with 18 points. Fellow sophomores Chloe Scholl and Allie Haabala also scored in double digits, Scholl with 16 points and Haabala 12.
"I think it was huge to start off the game strong and pick up the energy to keep it going through the whole game," Thul said.
The Pioneers (17-12) hung around for a while but never got the deficit back into single digits. Elise Groppoli led the Pioneers with 11 points.
