ELEVATING — Martin County West’s Emily Anderson (35) uses her vertical leap to outjump Madelia’s Katherine DeVlaeminck to control the opening tipoff of Thursday night’s Section 2A, South Sub-Section first-round basketball game in Sherburn. (Photo by Charlie Sorrells)

SHERBURN — Martin County West guard Emily Anderson, power forward Liv Borchardt and their Maverick teammates showed no signs of nervousness during Thursday night’s first round of the Section 2A basketball playoffs.

Anderson and Borchardt packed a lethal perimeter-to-post punch by combining for 40 points, a dozen rebounds, nine assists, seven steals and six blocked shots to help the No. 6-seeded Mavericks knock out the No. 11-seeded Madelia Blackhawks, 73-29, in Sherburn.

Martin County West (8-15) advances to face No. 3-seeded Nicollet (16-10) at 7 p.m. Tuesday in a South Sub-Section quarterfinal in Nicollet.

Madelia ended its season with a 3-24 overall record.

“The girls distributed the basketball extremely well tonight. Not only did we pass the ball, but more importantly, we finished (by making the shots),” Martin County West head coach Rodger Taylor said in reference to his lineup’s 19 total assists and 31-for-62 field-goal shooting for 50 percent, respectively.

Emily Anderson buried back-to-back 3-pointers from the top of the key off one of Borchardt’s game-best five assists and one of Lucy Larson’s three assists, respectively, to trigger the Mavericks’ eventual 8-0 stampede out of the starting gate.

Victoria Hemmingsen, who topped Madelia with nine points, ended the Blackhawks’ offensive drought with a baseline runner before exchanging trifectas with Emily Anderson to 11-5 with 12:50 left in the first half.

Thea Anderson, who contributed six points and five boards off the bench, cashed in Borchardt’s pinpoint pass after cutting to the basket to serve as MCW’s catalyst behind a momentum-shifting 20-0 surge.

Borchardt converted one of her four steals into an ensuing layup, Emily Anderson nailed a pull-up 15-footer before Borchardt spotted Anderson slicing through the paint for a 12-foot jumper.

Emily Anderson then traded roles by threading a pass to Borchardt for a left-elbow 15-footer before Thea Anderson muscled through traffic in the lane. Borchardt capitalized on her backcourt defensive pressure by pocketing a steal-turned-layup before banking in a baseline leaner off a Katie Hartke entry pass.

Thea Anderson sliced through defenders again before Kari Matejka floated home a baseline jumper to widen the Mavericks’ margin to 31-5.

MCW blistered the Sherburn gymnasium nets on 24-for-43 shooting from the field (55.8 percent), including all five of its 3-pointers, to amass a 56-15 lead by intermission.

“Surprisingly, it (56 points) is not a school record for one half of basketball here,” said Taylor.

Eight different Maverick hoopsters doled out at least one assist, while 10 MCW players pocketed at least one steal during the postseason clash.

“Defense wins games,” Taylor said in reference to his lineup limiting Madelia to 10-for-37 shooting from the floor for 27 percent.

Emily Anderson topped all scorers with 22 points to complement a game-best five blocked shots, a co-game-best seven rebounds, four assists and three steals for MCW.

Borchardt connected on 9-for-11 field goals en route to 18 points to go with a game-high five assists, five rebounds and four steals.

Katherine DeVlaeminck delivered seven points and grabbed a co-game-best seven rebounds for the Blackhawks, while Ollieah Glover and Alicia Lugo chipped in six and five points, respectively.

Madelia 15-14–29

MCW 56-17–73

MARTIN CO. WEST (73)

Emily Anderson 8-12 2-4 22, Ella Carlson 2-5 1-2 5, Borchardt 9-11 0-0 18, Larson 1-8 1-2 3, Matejka 3-8 0-0 7, Thea Anderson 3-7 0-0 6, Sanders 2-4 0-0 4, Hartke 1-2 0-0 2, Clow 1-1 2-2 4, Maddie Carlson 0-1 0-0 0, Wohlhuter 0-0 0-0 0, Schuett 0-1 0-0 0, Schmidtke 1-2 0-0 2, Paulson 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 31-62 6-10 73.

MADELIA (29)

DeVlaeminck 3-13 0-0 7, Glover 2-5 2-3 6, Grev 1-2 0-0 2, Lugo 1-3 3-4 5, Hemmingsen 3-9 2-4 9, Grebenc 0-3 0-4 0, Facundo 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 10-37 7-15 29.

3-pointers: Martin Co. West 5-12 (E. Anderson 4-7, Matejka 1-5); Madelia 2-11 (Hemmingsen 1-4, DeVlaeminck 1-4, Facundo 0-2, Lugo 0-1). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: MCW 30 (E. Anderson 7, Borchardt and T. Anderson 5 each); Madelia 19 (DeVlaeminck 5). Assists: MCW 19 (Borchardt 5, E. Anderson 4, Larson 3); Madelia 2. Steals: MCW 17 (Borchardt 4); Madelia 8. Blocked shots: MCW 7 (E. Anderson 5).

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Medford 40, Blue Earth Area 25 — The Tigers scratched out a 15-point non-league win over the Bucs during rescheduled regular-season action Thursday night in Blue Earth.

Kate Armon poured in 17 points to pace Blue Earth Area’s effort, while teammate Maddie Schiltz supplied four points and grabbed seven rebounds.

Sophia Keister collected four points and garnered five boards for the Bucs, who trailed 16-14 at halftime.

Blue Earth Area (4-20) tips off the Section 2AA, South Sub-Section quarterfinals against No. 1-seeded Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial at 7 p.m. Tuesday in Lake Crystal.

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Boys Basketball

Blue Earth Area 88, Medford 47 — Ashton Lloyd cranked out an incredible double-double performance of 30 points and 17 rebounds to power the Bucs to a 41-point rout of the Tigers during nonconference action Thursday night in Medford.

Lloyd connected on 11 of 18 field goals, including an 8-for-14 effort from 3-point range, to pace his game-leading total.

Gabriel Torres neared double-double territory by scoring 14 points to complement distributing a game-best nine assists. Torres also pocketed three steals.

Jack Norman netted 12 points and hauled in eight rebounds for BEA, while teammate Anthony Carr chipped in eight points.

The Bucs made 32 of 62 field goals overall, including 17 of 35 from 3-point distance, during the regular-season contest.

Blue Earth Area (11-11) plays host to Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton on Tuesday night in a nonconference regular-season game.