The Soldan boys basketball team used fast starts in each half to blow by Sumner 81-51 Thursday night in Class 4 District 5 boys basketball semifinal action at Jennings.
Ranked No. 1 among STLhighschoolsports.com small schools, Soldan (20-5) will face the host school for the title at 6:30 p.m. Friday.
Second-seeded Jennings (12-15) pulled out a 58-55 decision over No. 3 Beaumont in Thursday's other game.
Soldan, looking to make its third consecutive state trip, outscored Sumner 23-4 in the first quarter and 31-15 in the third. The Tigers were led by senior standouts Randy Holmes (28 points), Pete Sanders (19) and Paul McRoberts (18).
Sumner finished 8-17.
Courtney Stockard scored 20 and dished out four assists as Jennings beat Beaumont (10-15). The Warriors also received solid games from Chris Holly (13 points, 12 rebounds) and Raheim Holloway (nine points, five steals, four assists). In a losing cause, Tyler Hackney scored 21 and Ralph Hayes chipped in with 14 for Beaumont.
STLhighschoolsports.com has complete coverage of district basketball action. See the boys brackets here and girls brackets here. In other district games Thursday:
BORGIA 68, ST. CLAIR 28 • The Knights, ranked seventh among area boys small schools, were in control from the start in the Class 4 District 9 semifinals at Union. Borgia led 21-8 after a quarter, 37-17 by halftime and 55-23 going into the final quarter.
Bryce Dolan paced Borgia with 22 points. Jared Mohesky added 14 points, five steals and four assists.
St. Clair finished 9-19.
Borgia, last year's Class 4 runner-up, will take on second-seeded Sullivan (18-8) for the championship at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Sullivan advanced by defeating Salem 54-35.
METRO EAST LUTHERAN 57, BUNKER HILL 34 • In a Class 1A regional semifinal at Hardin-Calhoun, the Knights (15-12) got past the Bunker Hill (19-12), earning a spot in Friday's 7:30 p.m. championship game against Carrollton.
Jacob Fanshier scored a game-high 15 points to lead Metro East.
GIRLS
LUTHERAN SOUTH 57, AFFTON 46 • Down 27-22 at the half, the host Lancers used an 18-4 third-quarter run to take command in Class 4 District 3 semifinal action. Second-seeded South (14-13) will meet top-seeded Pacific (17-9) in the championship game at 5:30 p.m. Saturday.
Pacific eliminated Hillsboro 55-33 in Thursday's other game at South.
South, which converted 24 of 39 foul shots, received double-figure scoring from Jasmine Cawley (12) and Jessica Daube (11).
In a losing cause, Affton (15-12) got 20 points, 10 rebounds, seven steals, seven blocks and three assists from Hali Ford. Anjanea Sims added 12 points for the Cougars, who made 19 of 31 free throws.
Abigail Spuhl scored 21 and Anna Vogt added nine as 10 different players scored for Pacific. Hillsboro finished 7-20.
