Staff photo by Steve Muscatello Sophie Portner (32) of Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s takes a shot as Madi Heiling (22) of Cedar Mountain defends during the Knights Section 2A playoff win Monday in Sleepy Eye.

SLEEPY EYE — Madison Mathiowetz led Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s to a 65-29 win over Cedar Mountain on Monday in the quarterfinals of the Section 2A, North Subsection girls’ basketball tournament.

Mathiowetz scored 33 points, had 10 rebounds and 10 steals. Reagan Severson scored 12 points and Sydney Windschitl added 11 rebounds with four steals. The Cougars’ Megan Sandgren scored 10 points.

Turnovers doomed CM as it had 24 turnovers in the first half alone. It finished with 33 turnovers in the game.

The Knights took advantage of that and turned those miscues into points. St. Mary’s rebounded well and used a tenacious defense to force those turnovers. The Knights occasionally implemented a double or triple-team defense upon CM.

Windschitl passed the basketball to Severson who passed to Mathiowetz for an inside basket. That started a 6-0 run for the Knights. Mathiowetz hit a free throw, Windschitl dropped in a free throw and Mathiowetz scored a fast-break layup for a 42-14 lead early in the second half.

Windschitl scored back-to-back layups, with the first one coming on a reverse layup. She stole the basketball on the next play and she scored on a layup.

Severson scored, Mathiowetz made a free throw and Mathiowetz scored for a 5-0 St. Mary’s lead early in the contest. Sandgren hit two free throws to bring the Cougars within 3 points. CM could get closer for the rest of the game.

Late in the first half, Mathiowetz stole the ball. She was fouled and she made both free throws for a 34-10 Knights advantage.

CM’s Trista Smith scored on an inbound pass play. She hit the free throw for a 34-13 St. Mary’s lead at halftime.

“We had trouble with our ball handling and our shooting,” CM head coach Joel Christianson said. He acknowledged the ball handling issues led to so many turnovers, especially in the first half.

St. Mary’s (23-2) will play BOLD at 6 p.m. on Friday at St. Peter High School. The Cougars end their season with a 3-22 mark.