That early lead helped the third-seeded Knights hold onto that lead for a 64-59 win to send the Knights to Friday’s semifinals round of the state tournament.

“Just knowing we had to finish the game,” Mathiowetz said. “Just everybody at this level, when they get here, they’re giving 100%. The people that come out on the winning side are going to give 110. Just finding that next level and digging deep and playing with each other and being really united together to get the job done.”

The Knights now play MACCRAY at 2 p.m. Friday at Williams Arena.

Mathiowetz led the Knights with 30 points and 15 rebounds, while Olivia Schieffert had 16 points and eight assists. Natalie Fischer added 7 points and three rebounds.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Brynne Ibberson goes up for a shot during the Class A Girls Basketball State Tournament game against Sacred Heart Thursday at Maturi Pavillion.

“Mathiowetz is special,” Sacred Heart head coach Brian Loe said. “She just can do so much. I think we’ve seen a couple players that are comparable as far as speed goes, but she’s just such a well-rounded basketball player, she does everything.”

Sacred Heart was led by the 6-foot Lexi Lawrence with 27 points and 16 rebounds. St. Mary’s had a size disadvantage down low, and while Lawrence got her points, St. Mary’s also forced several turnovers when the ball went to the post.

“She had a big first half,” St. Mary’s head coach Bruce Woitas said. “I think she had 16 points in the first half. But I thought she did a much better job in the second half. We knew we had to focus on her, and they hit some big 3s tonight too, which we didn’t see that often in the film that we watched. But we did a great job defensively on her. She shot a ton of free throws, but I think in the second half we limited her, especially early, and that was a big turnaround for us in that second half.”

Both teams played strong defense, leading to a 48-48 tie going into the overtime period. While St. Mary’s certainly has an offense that can score in bunches, they are comfortable playing in lower-scoring games as well.

“I think they played pretty good defense, but we really wanted to focus on our defense and keeping them under their score,” Schieffert said. “Because we knew if they were going to keep us under, then we needed to hold them under too with our defense.”

Staff photo by Ari Selvey The Sleepy Eye St. Mary’s crowd cheers on the team during the Class A Girls Basketball State Tournament Thursday at Maturi Pavillion.

The game started off with the teams trading points, but St. Mary’s jumped out to a 13-7 lead after a 7-0 run, including a deep 3-pointer from Mathiowetz, to force a Sacred Heart timeout. The Eagles battled back, however, and after closing the lead to 19-17, they went on a 8-0 run to take a 25-19 lead. Fischer made a 3-pointer to cut into the lead, but Sacred Heart was still able to take a 25-22 lead into halftime.

“I think we really talked about what we needed,” Woitas said. “We weren’t moving the ball very effectively in the first half. We were trying to do too much with not everybody involved in the offense. Morgan’s a great player, she’s been our top scorer all year long, averaging 34 points a game, so she has that full package and she adjusted really well in that second half too. And we got some big transition baskets in the second half too.”

Mathiowetz opened the second half with a 3-pointer, and the teams went back and forth once again. A transition jumper from Mathiowetz gave the Knights a 33-28 lead, and St. Mary’s held a 46-40 lead on a layup from Mathiowetz with 2:44 remaining. Sacred Heart wasn’t done, however, scoring 8 of the next 10 points to send the game into overtime.

After a mid-range jumper from Sacred Heart’s other 6-footer Lydia Riskey and a pair of free throws from St. Marys’ Ameila Schwartz, the Knights went on their 6-0 run to go up 56-50 and force a Sacred Heart timeout with 2:43 to play. Lawrence made a layup coming out of the timeout, but St. Mary’s responded with a driving layup from Ibberson. The Eagles couldn’t gain ground in the final minutes and were forced to foul. St. Mary’s made its free throws, and while Riskey made one final shot at the buzzer, St. Mary’s was able to come away with the victory.

The Knights now turn their attention to seventh-seeded MACCRAY after it upset second-seeded Mayer Lutheran earlier Thursday.

Staff photo by Ari Selvey Sleepy Eye St. Marys’ Morgan Mathiowetz drives to the hoop during the Class A Girls Basketball State Tournament game against Sacred Heart Thursday at Maturi Pavillion.

“They’ve got a really good guard player,” Woitas said. “They shoot the 3, they’ll use her a lot to set up the 3 for other players. But I think overall we matchup OK with them. Their guard is a 6-footer as well I believe, shoots a lot of 3s from way deep out. We just have to be ready for that. Kind of similar to what Emily Anderson from Martin County West, except maybe a few more shooters on the outside versus what they had. We’ve just got to get some rest, get focused and get ready to go tomorrow.