Top-seeded Stillwater jumped out to an early lead and cruised past second-seeded East Ridge 83-37 at Hastings High School for its second consecutive Class 4A, Section 4 girls' basketball title Thursday.

Alex Pratt led the Ponies (23-5) with 21 points and Grace Cote had 19, including five three-point baskets.

Ella Stegeman led the Raptors (18-11) with 12 points and Kate Burns had 10. It was their third loss to Stillwater, the other two by 32 and 41 points.

Also in Class 4A:

Section 7: Fourth-seeded Cambridge-Isanti overcame a four-point halftime deficit to defeat third-seeded Forest Lake 59-50 to advance to the state tournament for the first time since 1999. Senior guard Jackie Olander had 19 points and four assists for the Bluejackets (20-9).

Class 3A

Section 2: Second-seeded Waconia advanced to the state tournament for the first time in school history with a 61-50 upset of top-seeded Marshall at Gustavus Adolphus in St. Peter. Audrey Swanson led the Wildcats with 23 points. Jordyn Hilgemann led the Tigers with 19 points. Marshall entered the game unbeaten and won the section title five out of the past six seasons.

Section 3: Sydney Stensgard scored 29 points to lead top-seeded Simley past third-seeded St. Paul Como Park 69-53 at Bloomington Jefferson High School to advance to the state tournament for the fourth time in school history. The Spartans started the game with the first seven points. The Cougars never got within five points and failed to score a point in the final 3:34 of the game. Acheampomaa Danso had 14 points and Ysareia Chevre had 10 for the Spartans. Kaylynn Asberry led the Cougars with 20 points and Ronnie Porter had 13.

Section 4: Top-seeded DeLaSalle pulled away from second-seeded Hill-Murray for its fourth consecutive trip to the state tournament and 11th overall. The defending Class 3A champion Islanders took a 16-point lead into halftime and cruised to a 62-31 victory at East Ridge High School. Nurjei Weems led the Islanders with 18 points and Kiani Lockett had 17. Ella Runyon led the Pioneers with 11 points.

Section 5: Top-seeded Becker finished the first half on an 11-0 run to build a double-digit lead and cruised to a 71-44 victory over third-seeded Monticello at Buffalo High School. The Bulldogs return to the state tournament for the fourth time and were the Class 3A runner-up last season. Julia Bengtson led the Bulldogs with 21 points. Anna Olson led the Magic with 15 points for the Magic. She finished her high school career with 1,782 points, the second most in school history. Morgynn Spears added 10 points for the Magic.

STAFF REPORTS