As a basketball venue, Mariucci Arena takes some getting used to, with its cavernous background, echo-chamber acoustics and distance from the court to the fans. 

New London-Spicer adapted a little quicker than Esko, taking a quick seven-point lead, then holding off the Eskomos for a 48-43 victory. Guard Shea Oman scored 16 points and forward Kabrie Weber added 8 points and grabbed 9 rebounds for the Wildcats.

“It’s loud in there and it’s crazy,” Oman said. “It’s different because there’s so much open space on the ends, but I like it.”

Esko (24-7) took nearly five minutes before getting its first basket. By that time, New London-Spicer (27-3) led 7-0, a lead that was threatened twice but never relinquished. Wildcats coach Mike Dreier, the winningest girls’ basketball coach in state history, was impressed by his team’s response to Esko’s runs.

“These girls seem to react to pressure situations very well,” he said. “We had several situations today where we built up a pretty decent lead and it didn’t last very long. But we were able to toughen up and build it up again.”

The key, Oman said, was not getting caught up in the ebbs and flows of the game.

“Every team here is good,” she said. “They’re going to make shots and stuff is going to go their way. We just had to keep doing what we’re doing.”

JIM PAULSEN

New London-Spicer raced out to a big first-half lead, then leaned on guards Shea Oman and Kabrie Weber to hold off Esko 48-43 on Wednesday in the Class 2A quarterfinals.

Oman scored a team-leading 16 points and Weber added 8 points and 9 rebounds for the Wildcats, who are making their 12th state tournament appearance.

Esko got as close as one point, 36-35, midway through the second half but never managed to gain the lead.

Check back later for more on the game.