MT. CARMEL, ILL. – The four-time defending Midwest District champions took the first step towards winning their fifth straight title on Tuesday night.
Wabash Valley (18-3) jumped to an 11-3 lead in the first two minutes and coasted to a 91-52 win over John A. Logan in a quarterfinal round game at Spencer Sports Center.
The win sends the 12th-ranked Warriors into Thursday's semifinal game. They will host Lincoln Trail (8-11), which defeated Shawnee, 69-66, on Tuesday.
Je'Naiya Davis seemed unstoppable at times in the first half. She had 23 points by halftime and finished the night with 31 to lead the top-seeded Warriors.
"Je'Naiya was feeling it," said WVC coach Luke Scheidecker. "She was almost automatic in the first half."
Davis blistered the Logan zone defense for seven 3-point field goals – all in the first 20 minutes of play. "I told her to save some of those for Thursday," kidded Scheidecker after the game.
The Warriors led at the end of the first quarter, 20-11, and by halftime the margin had grown to 19 points, at 46-27.
Jazmyn Turner wound up with 14 points for the winners, who put 11 players into the scoring column.
Logan finished the season with a record of 3-17.
The other semifinal on Thursday pits No. 3 seed Rend Lake (13-5) against Vincennes (17-3). Rend Lake defeated Olney Central, 113-65, while second-seeded Vincennes eliminated Kaskaskia, 83-56, in other quarterfinal round games.