GRANADA — The No. 2-seeded Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther Jaguars showed no signs of nervousness in the Section 2A, South Sub-Section quarterfinals against the No. 7-seeded Mountain Lake Area Wolverines.

The Jaguars held the Wolverines to 14 points in the first half to breeze to a 67-42 win on Tuesday night in Granada.

“Sometimes, you get first-game jitters in the tournament, and I didn’t see that at all. We came ready to play, so that was good,” Jaguars head coach Rick Uttech said.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther (23-4) plays No. 3-seeded St. Clair in the sub-section semifinals at 7:45 p.m. Friday in Lake Crystal. St. Clair defeated No. 6-seeded Alden-Conger, 61-43, to advance. Mountain Lake Area ended its season with an 11-16 record, while Alden-Conger marked a 15-11 final record.

“It’ll be the third time (playing St. Clair). We will be ready. We aren’t right now, but we will be,” Uttech said with a smile.

The Jaguars had four double-digit scorers, including senior center Kenlie Pytleski, who scored four of her 14 points at the start of the game. Senior guard Hannah Johanson, who totaled 13 points in the contest, added on a 3-pointer off a feed from Pytleski to stake the Jaguars to a 7-2 lead.

Junior guard Macy Quinn later pocketed a steal and made two free throws to get the Jaguars out to a 16-7 lead with 12:50 to go in the half.

Wolverines guard Brook Sunderman connected with freshman forward Margo Stoesz, who drained a trey to get the visitors back within six. The Jaguars responded with an 8-0 run powered by Pytleski and senior forward Hanna Geistfeld.

Wolverines junior forward Jewel Soutthivong broke up the run with a quick basket for a doubled deficit of 24-12 at the 6:17 juncture.

The Jaguars held the Wolverines scoreless in the final four minutes of the game and used it to stretch out to a 37-14 lead.

Senior guard Alexis Brummond netted a 3-pointer before adding another two points off a steal, and Johanson notched a 3 via an outlet pass from Pytleski to mark the 23-point lead.

“We played good defense (in the first half),” Uttech said. “We didn’t give them easy looks, and that was the key there — solid defense, and we rebounded well.”

The Jaguars outrebounded the Wolverines, 14-6, and forced 11 Wolverines turnovers in the half.

The Wolverines came out in the second half and narrowed the deficit early on. Margo Stoesz stayed outside the perimeter and notched two of her five 3-pointers to get the Wolverines’ deficit below 20 for a 39-22 score. Senior center Liana Blomgren added on with two baskets and two made foul shots.

But the Jaguars answered with an 11-0 run to put the game out of reach. Pytleski started the effort with a trip to the charity strip and senior forward Renae Wallace put back her own missed shot as the Jaguars went up, 56-28 with 8:38 left in the game.

Soutthivong supplied a free throw shot a minute later to halt the Jaguars’ scoring spree. Soutthivong finished with nine points for the Wolverines.

The visiting team outscored the Jaguars, 13-9, in the final minutes, and marked 28 points in the second half, but couldn’t overcome its early deficit.

“We played a little sloppy for a while there, especially in the second half. So, we’ve got to come out a little better in the second half and we’ve got to make sure that we rebound well and keep the inside-outside balance,” Uttech said.

Margo Stoesz led the Wolverines with 17 points and Blomgren tacked on 14 points and a team-best five rebounds.

Pytleski went 6-for-8 from the field for 14 points to complement five rebounds and four assists.

Geistfeld scored a co-team-leading 14 points with a Jaguars-best six rebounds. Johanson notched 13 points and Brummond scored 10 points on 4-for-5 shooting, including 2-for-3 from 3-point range.

“That’s awesome,” Uttech said about the scoring performance. “You can tell that they really wanted it.”

MLA 14-28–42

GHECTML 37-30–67

GHECTML (67)

Kenlie Pytleski 6-8 2-2 14, Hanna Geistfeld 6-9 2-4 14, Hannah Johanson 5-9 1-2 13, Alexis Brummond 4-5 0-0 10, Macy Quinn 1-2 2-2 4, Renae Wallace 2-3 0-0 4, Allyson Cegelske 1-3 0-0 3, Maddie Johnson 1-2 0-0 3, Emma Becker 1-3 0-0 2, Marissa Steinhaus 0-1 0-0 0, Lydia Studer 0-0 0-2 0, Rachel Stauter 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 27-42 7-12 67.

MT. LAKE AREA (42)

Margo Stoesz 6-9 0-0 17, Liana Blomgren 4-7 6-6 14, Jewel Soutthivong 4-10 1-2 9, Brook Sunderman 0-3 1-2 1, Lexia Peters 0-1 1-4 1, Taylor Naas 0-6 0-0 0, Rylie Tollefson 0-1 0-0 0, Destiny Sybounheuan 0-2 0-0 0, Jordan Boldt 0-0 0-0 0, Marta Stoesz 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-39 9-14 42.

3-pointers: GHECTML 6-17 (Brummond 2-3, Johanson 2-5, Cegelske 1-3, Johnson 1-2, Quinn 0-1, Geistfeld 0-1, Becker 0-1, Steinhaus 0-1); Mountain Lake Area 5-16 (Margo Stoesz 5-7, Soutthivong 0-1, Tollefson 0-1, Sybounheuan 0-1, Naas 0-6). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: GHECTML 24 (Geistfeld 6); Mountain Lake Area 16 (Blomgren 5). Assists: GHECTML 12 (Pytleski 4); Mountain Lake Area 7 (Sunderman 4). Steals: Mountain Lake Area 9; GHECTML 4. Blocks: GHECTML 3; Mountain Lake Area 3.

Section 3AA Playoffs

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton 55, Martin County West 49 — The No. 1-seeded Panthers held on to a 25-22 first-half lead to beat the No. 4-seeded Mavericks in the Section 3AA, South Sub-section semifinals on Tuesday in Windom.

Martin County West ended the season with a 15-10 record.

Tracy-Milroy-Balaton (25-3) plays No. 3-seeded Minneota at 6 p.m. Thursday at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall. Minneota beat top-seeded Pipestone, 50-47, to reach the finals.

Sierra Williamson led the Mavericks’ scoring effort with 15 points to go along with seven rebounds. Hunter Wrightson contributed 11 points, while Alyssa Williamson recorded four assists, five rebounds and three steals.

Renae Eckmann dished out three assists and pocketed four steals, and Karlee Thiesse crashed the boards for 10 rebounds for the Mavericks, who went 19-for-52 from the field. The team also made 7 of 12 free throw baskets.

MCW 22-27–49

TMB 25-30–55

Boys Basketball

Jackson County Central 72, Fairmont 57 — Ryan Christopher scored 20 points in the Class 2A, No. 14-ranked Huskies’ Big South Conference cross-over win against the Cardinals on Tuesday night in Jackson.

Jacob Christopher provided the Huskies with 12 points.

The Huskies were up, 33-31, at the half.

Walker Tordsen scored a Cardinal-best 16 points with eight rebounds and three blocks.

Sam Schwieger had 15 points, and Derek Missling added eight points. Brady Allen chipped in seven points, seven rebounds and four assists, while Nate Kallenbach finished with five points, seven assists and four rebounds.

The Cardinals shot 13 of 29 from 2-point range and 8 of 20 from 3-point distance while going 7-for-10 at the free throw line.

Fairmont finished the regular season with a 16-9 record and, as the No. 4 seed, hosts No. 5-seeded St. James in the Section 2AA, South Sub-section quarterfinals at 7 p.m. next Monday in Fairmont.

FMT 31-26–57

JCC 33-39–72

Fairmont’s B-squad beat Jackson County Central, 57-52, in overtime on Tuesday. Nick Eversman topped the Cardinals with 13 points, and Jeb Green produced 12 points.

Dustin Schultz added on 10 points for Fairmont, Hayden Berhow scored nine points, while Jack Hested and Dan Reiter totaled eight and five points, respectively.

Fairmont defeated Jackson County Central, 54-28, during C-squad action on Tuesday night.

Joey Flohrs notched nine points for the Cardinals, while Dan Betts tallied eight points. Jacob Roberts and Caden Baarts each scored six points.