The Mustangs flipped the script at Maturi Pavilion, however, surpassing Fosston’s average before halftime with a 72-35 win.

“I think our biggest thing, what we said during out pre-game speech is to believe in our defense,” BLHS head coach Jesse Weick said. “When we play great defense, we’ll always end up getting great offense out of it. I think that was the staple thing. The harder you play defense, the easier rebounds come your way and the easier shots you get on the offensive end.”

Rachel Kottke led the Mus- tangs with 21 points, seven rebounds and four steals, while Lily Hubin had 16 points, five rebounds and six steals. Kristi Kottke had 12 points, 11 assists and four steals and Ella Bergstrom had 10 points and four assists.

Rachel Kottke started off the game with two straight 3-point- ers to put the Mustangs up 6-0 as the Mustangs pushed the tempo of the game. BLHS added onto its lead with a 22-5 run to go up 30-9 as Fosston struggled to get past the Mustangs’ perimeter de- fense.

Photo courtesy of Kate Maiers Buffalo Lake-Hector-Stewart’s Rachel Kottke looks to score during the opening round of the Class A Girls Basketball State Tournament against Fosston Thursday at Maturi Pavilion at the University of Minnesota.

BLHS, on the other hand, saw plenty of success moving the ball around and getting open shots on the perimeter and at the rim.

Weick said that a lot of the team’s success on defense came back to Rachel Kottke, who was matched up on Fosston’s top player, Brynlea Mahlen, for much of the game. Rachel Kottke held Mahlen to just 6 points on 12 shots with four turnovers.

“I think it all starts with our senior Rachel Kottke, who just

had a phenomenal all-around game for us,” Weick said. “She was able to take their best player and just not really need any type of rotation or help. She was able to take her out of her element, up in her face forcing her to have to do a lot off of the dribble. That led to no one else having to help, and we were able to do what we needed to do after that.”

By halftime, BLHS held a 40-13 lead and running time was implemented in the second half as the Mustangs came away with a comfortable win.

BLHS now takes on Mountain Iron-Buhl in the semifinals round Friday at Williams Arena.

The Mustangs fell to MIB 65-43 in their second game of the regular season, but since that

loss have gone 26-1. MIB won its quarterfinals game against Walker-Hackensack-Akeley 71-36 and is ranked as the No. 3 team in Class A basketball by Pacesetter.net.

“[The girls] have really honed in on that, that this team was the last one that really made us come down to earth,” Weick said. “They made us realize we need to put in the work. We know that with a player they have in [4-star North Carolina State commit Jordan] Zubich, she’s going to score, she’s going to do whatever she wants because she’s a good player. It’s just understanding that our defensive focus needs to be a top priority.

“It’s not about who can score 80 points, it’s about who can score under 60 points is probably going to be the victorious team. Doing the little things like knowing who their shooters are, knowing who to

box out, and every single time I’m not getting the rebound I’m getting back in transition and force a half-court game, which neither one of us want to play. We’re both very full-court transition teams.”