TRAPPED — Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther’s Bethany Petrowiak (22) and Olivia Mattson (second from right) trap Mankato Loyola’s Maddie Huiras during their Section 2A basketball quarterfinal Thursday night at St. Peter High School. The Jaguars’ Madisen Lewis (35) looks on. (Photo by Greg Abel)

ST. PETER — Senior guard McKenna Benck led the way with 20 points for the Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther Jaguars girls basketball team to defeat the Mankato Loyola Crusaders in the Section 2A quarterfinals Thursday night in St. Peter, 60-43.

With the win, No. 1 seed Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther (21-6) advances to the sectional semifinals against the No. 3 seed Springfield Tigers (16-11) at 7:45 p.m. Monday night at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

Springfield posted a 60-48 win over Martin County West to advance to the next playoff round.

It was a sloppy start for both sides, with the score remaining 1-0 in the Crusaders’ favor for 3 minutes to start the first half.

Junior guard Rachel Ammann nailed two 3-pointers with 13 minutes remaining in the opening half to give the Crusaders an early 7-6 lead in the ball game.

Jaguars head coach TJ Pytleski spoke highly of Ammann during his post-game interview.

“She had a big night tonight. To be honest, we were focused on (Sammy) Kann and (Amelia) Speckel and then, of course, Ammann had a really good night tonight shooting,” Pytleski said. “We lost her a few times and she made us pay, so we have to do a better job moving forward of finding the girl that’s on that night and recognizing where she is to shut her down.”

Ammann kept the Crusaders in the game and the teams went into the break with the Jaguars leading 26-22.

The Jaguars didn’t play up to their standard so the message at intermission was simple.

“We just told them at halftime that if they play the way we did in the first half, we’d still win, so that was a positive,” Pytleski said. “We moved the ball pretty well, our defense did a really good job in the first half and really stepped it up in the second half and our shots would fall.”

Senior Olivia Mattson got things going for the Jaguars with a layup to start the second half, and then McKenna Benck hit Keira Benck for a 3-pointer to open the gap to 31-24 with 16 minutes remaining in the game.

Keira Benck exploded for 13 second-half points to finish the night with 19 points to go with her three dimes and a pair of steals.

Mattson finished the game with five points, but added in seven boards and seven assists.

Junior post player Madisen Lewis struggled to hit her shots, but remained a force on the interior, collecting five block shots in the victory for the purple-and-white.

With 9 minutes left in regulation, the Crusaders attempted to make a run. Ammann connected for a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 43-31, but the Jaguars would respond.

McKenna Benck ended their hopes with an ‘and-1’ conversion with a minute remaining to put the game away.

GTML   26-34–60

LOY       22-21–43

GHEC/T/ML (60)

M. Benck 6-11 3-5 20, K. Benck 7-17 4-6 19, Bowers 4-9 0-0 9, Lewis 2-12 2-2 6, Mattson 2-6 1-2 5, Geistfeld 0-2 1-2 1, Be. Petrowiak 0-3 0-3 0, Br. Petrowiak 0-1 0-0 0, Nowicki 0-1 0-0 0.

LOYOLA (43)

Ammann 5-9 0-0 15, Kann 3-8 3-3 10, Huiras 4-11 1-5 9, Evenson 2-11 0-1 6, Speckel 1-8 1-2 3, Endres 0-6 0-0 0.

Springfield 60, Martin County West 48 — Brooklyn Sturm approached triple-double territory to help steer the No. 3-seeded Tigers to a 12-point playoff victory over the No. 2-seeded Mavericks on Thursday night at St. Peter High School.

Sturm erupted for 18 points, a team-leading 11 rebounds and a game-best nine steals to just miss the rare feat.

Springfield (16-11) advances to face No. 1-seeded Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther at 7:45 p.m. Monday night at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter in a Section 2A semifinal.

Emma Hauger poured in a game-leading 25 points to top the Tigers, while teammate Jasmine Novotny tossed in 10 points.

Emily Anderson closed out her season by netting a double-double performance of 23 points and 10 rebounds for MCW. Anderson also pocketed three steals.

Emily Schettler scored 12 points for the Mavericks, Avery Sanders contributed seven points and five boards, while Ella Carlson doled out five assists.

Martin County West ended its season with a 19-7 overall record.