It wasn’t going to win any style points from the average basketball fan, but to White Bear Lake coach Jeremy Post, the Bears’ 43-40 victory over Maple Grove in the Class 4A quarterfinals of the girls’ basketball state tournament was a thing of beauty.

The Bears mauled the Crimson defensively, holding it to just 13 points in the second half and made just enough plays offensively to advance to Thursday’s semifinals.

“That our style,” Post said. “That’s what we do. We’ve got a couple of great defenders, and we contest every shot.”

Maple Grove, a quarterfinals loser in 2010 as well, appeared to find its offensive stride in the first half, with Stephanie Davison and Anna Gerdes finding room to operate inside. The Crimson led 27-21 at halftime.

But Maple Grove was downright frigid in the second half, making  just two of 27 shots from the floor, none in the final 16:13 of the game.

“We started missing a few shots and the girls got a little tight,” Maple Grove coach Mark Cook said. “But White Bear Lake is a great defensive team. In the second half, we let them dictate what they wanted to do.”

According to White Bear Lake guard Alexis Foley, the Bears’ run to the Class 4A championship game in 2010, which they lost to Lakeville North, was a big factor in winning a close game with so much at stake.

“We know what it takes, on the big stage and under the lights,” said Foley, who led White Bear Lake with 11 points and added nine rebounds. “You still get a little nervous at first, but we just settled down and played our game.”

WHITE BEAR LAKE

MAPLE GROVE