Grand Meadow Superlarks girls basketball team downs Faribault Bethlehem Academy 63-30 in Section 1A quarterfinals Tuesday evening

The Grand Meadow Superlarks girls basketball team, the No. 9 team in the state in Class A in the latest poll from the Minnesota Basketball News and winners of 19 games in a row took on the Faribault Bethlehem Academy Cardinals in the Section 1A tournament quarterfinals at the Mayo Civic Center Auditorium in Rochester Monday evening, and it was the No. 2 seeded Superlarks using a 19-2 run to open the second half to pull away from the No. 10 seeded Cardinals in a 63-30 win.

The Superlarks, who led 28-19 at the half showed why they are the top defensive team in Section 1A by giving up only five field goals to the Cardinals in the second half, while outscoring Bethlehem Academy 35-11 in the half on their way to the win.  Junior forward Lexy Foster, who is averaging 14.3 points per game to lead Grand Meadow in scoring, and who scored 23 points in a second-round win over Schaeffer Academy last Thursday scored 16 of her 27 points in the second half Monday night, including four 3-pointers.  Senior guard Sydney Cotten drilled three 3-pointers in the first half and four for the game on her way to 14 points, senior forward Rebecca Hoffman tallied eight points, Lauren and Kendyl Queensland each tallied six points and freshman guard Gracie Foster added two points from the free-throw line in the second half in the winning effort Monday evening.

With their 20th win in a row, the Superlarks are now 26-2 on the season, and Grand Meadow will take on third-seeded Randolph in the Section 1A semifinals Saturday afternoon at 1:30 p.m.  The Rockets advanced with a 48-40 win over No. 6 seed Rushford-Peterson, and you’ll hear the game from Rochester Saturday on AM 1480 KAUS, myaustinminnesota.com and the I Heart Radio and radio.com apps, with the pre-game show getting underway at 1:15 p.m. Saturday afternoon.