Any postseason drama for the Signal Mountain girls' basketball team lasted barely more than quarter.
Leading by only four points headed into the second quarter, the Lady Eagles began that period with a 15-0 run and coasted past visiting Sequoyah 45-27 in Friday night's Region 3-AA quarterfinal round.
Signal Mountain, which has won 10 straight games - all but one by double figures - allowed just two first-half field goals to Sequoyah, both of which were long-range 3-pointers.
"Our game plan is always to come out and play good defense, and I think we sent a message early tonight," said Lady Eagles sophomore post Olivia Koontz, who scored a game-high 19 points. "We carried that early momentum to halftime and into the second half, and hopefully we can keep it going next week."
Signal Mountain (22-10) will face McMinn Central in Monday's semifinals at Loudon at 7:30. The Chargerettes (17-13) advanced with Friday's 63-56 home win over Brainerd. Monday's other 3-AA semifinal at Loudon will be top-ranked Meigs County (28-2) against Red Bank at 6.
Signal Mountain will be looking to advance past the region semis for the first time in program history.
After the dominant second quarter, the Lady Eagles followed up with stingier defense in the third, when they outscored Sequoyah 10-3. The Lady Eagles didn't allow a field goal from inside the 3-point arc until Abbey Borden's short jumper with 7:20 left in the game, and they led by 25 during the second half.
"We've made an effort to get better defensively, and I told the team at halftime that it was good to see them get rewarded for all the hard work they've been putting in on that end of the floor," Signal Mountain coach Kendra Bell said. "Our kids are really focused on getting somewhere that we've never been before. They've got that chance on Monday."
Besides Koontz, Signal Mountain also got steady scoring from Lamiah Walker, who finished with 12 points, including one of her team's three 3-pointers.
Contact Stephen Hargis at shargis@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6293. Follow him on Twitter @StephenHargis.