Back at state for the second consecutive year in Class 2A the Valley Heights girls opened tournament play on their home floor Tuesday night hosting Wabaunsee and thanks to a quick start the Mustangs rolled to a 60-44 victory.

The win puts Valley Heights back into the semifinals for the second straight year after the Mustangs had their tournament run ended a year ago due to COVID-19.

Tuesday night could not have started any better for the Mustangs as they jumped out to a quick 15-2 lead in the first quarter thanks in part to eight Wabaunsee turnovers which eventually led to a 21-11 lead after one with freshman Delana Murk and Maggie Toerber combining for 12 points in the frame.

The Mustangs pushed their lead to 12 points at halftime behind two more triples from Murk, while taking advantage of Wabaunsee’s two best players getting in foul trouble in junior Lauren Schutter and senior Madisyn Wertzberger.

The third quarter is when Valley Heights really took control outscoring Wabaunsee 18-7 in the frame behind two 3-pointers and eight points from junior Cat Toerber to lead 51-29 going into the fourth.

In the fourth the Mustangs were able to get some younger players in the game and after the Chargers got it down to a 15-point game with about four minutes to go the starters came back in and finished off the 16-point win.

The win didn’t come without a scare though as Murk injured her right knee in the second half and had to be helped off the floor as she finished her night with 13 points.

Cat Toerber led the way for the Mustangs with 15 points while Emma Yungeberg added 13 of her own.

Valley Heights (21-2) now heads into the semifinals on Friday night where they will take on Pittsburg-St. Mary’s Colgan (18-3) at 7 p.m. in Manhattan with live coverage on 92.1 KMZA.