For two consecutive years, Plainview-Elgin-Millville had its state championship hopes dashed in the section finals after exceptional regular seasons. Last year, the Bulldogs sat and watched as Dover-Eyota, which had defeated them in the Section 1 final, went on to win the state championship.

“That should have been us,” said senior guard Sarah Hart, the Bulldogs’ leader on and off the court. “I put the newspapers that had those two losses up on the wall in my room. I wasn’t going to let that happen again. This is our year to win it all.”

After routing Holy Family 59-38 in the Class 2A quarterfinals — the first state tournament appearance for either team — the Bulldogs appear to be on track.

PEM has been a team on a mission all year. It lost just once, in overtime to Class 4A Rochester Mayo in December, and earned the top seed in the Class 2A field.

With two seasons of disappointment to assuage, the Bulldogs left little to chance to fail Wednesday's opening round game. Taking advantage of a terrible first half of shooting by Holy Family, which went 4-of-31 from the floor, they sprinted to a 32-13 halftime lead and coasted to victory.

“We didn’t expect them to come out so fast,” said guard Brooke Bowlin, who, along with Molly Smith, led Holy Family (18-12) with 11 points.

Hart, who has signed to play at Division I St. Bonaventure (N.Y.), finished with 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Hayley Dessner had 12 points to lead PEM (29-1), and Emmaline Polson added eight points and 13 rebounds.

“We’re not satisfied,” Hart said. “This is a business trip for us. We’ve got business to take care of.”

First report

Plainview-Elgin-Millville showed why it was seeded No. 1 in the Class 2A state tournament field, running out to a 17-point halftime lead and coasting to a 59-38 victory over Holy Family in Wednesday’s quarterfinals.

Hayley Dessner scored 12 points, Chloe Holtz 11 and Sarah Hart had 10 points, eight rebounds and seven assists for the Bulldogs (29-1).

Brooke Bowlin and Molly Smith scored 11 points each for Holy Family (18-12).

Both teams were playing in the state tournament for the first time.

Check back later for more on the game.