LINCOLN, Neb. -- The St. Mary's Cardinals held the McCool Junction Mustangs to only two points in the second quarter to advance to the semifinals of the NSAA state basketball tournament at Pinnacle Bank Arena. 

St. Mary's took down the Mustangs for the second time this season with a 53 to 40 win led by a masterclass performance from seniors Mya Hedstrom with 25 points and Lorissa Reiman with 14 points. 

The Mustangs were led by senior McKenna Yates who scored nine points in the first quarter but was held to just two points for the remainder of the game, finishing with 11 points. The Mustangs also had a good performance from freshman Natalie Clark with nine points and sophomore Claire Brugger with eight points. 

The last time the two teams met was in McCool Junction where the Cardinals won 41-39 with 27 points from Hedstrom. McCool Junction's goal in the game, according to head coach Alyssa VanWesten, was to hold Hedstrom to as few points as they could, something they failed to accomplish. 

McCool Junction bows out of the state tournament for the second straight season in the first round after falling last year to St. Francis 61-54. 

St. Mary's will play Friday in the semifinals of the Class D1 state bracket and will play the defending state champions, Pender at 9 a.m. In the offseason, Pender moved down from Class C2, where they won the state title, to D1 while St. Mary's moved up from class D2 to D1.