SPOKANE - It wasn't much of a first round contest for the Almira/Coulee-Hartline Warriors at 1B Girls State Tournament at the Spokane Arena last night.

The obviously superior team used its height and quickness to its advantage to out-rebound the Lobos and race past the team from Lopez Island 72-15.

"The game turned out pretty much the way I expected," ACH coach Mike Correia said. "But you never want to take anything for granted."

The Warriors got off to a fast start, out-scoring the Lobos 20-5 after the first eight minutes of action.

ACH, finding little resistance from Lopez Island, kept its foot on the pedal and doubled the team's offensive output while holding the Lobos to single digits, to go up 41-9 at the half.

The Warriors had to do it without the services of Miranda Porterfield who was injured early in the first quarter.

"She rolled her ankle and had to sit the rest of the game," Correia said. "We are hoping to get her back for the game against Colton tomorrow."

ACH picked up where the team left off in the second quarter, scoring 18 points while holding the Lobos off the board in third quarter action.

The Warriors scrappy defense actually stymied Lopez Island's offense mid-way through the second quarter and the entire third quarter, refusing to let the Lobos put a single point on the board.

"I thought our offense was hitting on all cylinders," Correia said. "But our defense got away with a lot of things ... fundamental mistakes that we cannot afford to make tomorrow if we expect to beat Colton."

With his team comfortably out in front and in no danger of dropping the contest, Correia was able to give his starters a much needed rest over the final eight minutes of the contest.

"It was nice to be able to get everyone some playoff experience," Correia said. "It should really help in the long run."

The reserves hung another 13 points on the Lobos, while only giving up six.

The win over Lopez Island sets up a showdown against two familiar opponents in ACH and Colton High School.

"We know each other well," Correia said. "Colton knocked us out of the finals the last two years.  We can stay with them if we play solid defense, but we are going to have to have a few people who don't normally score step up and knock down some points."

Four players scored in double figures for the Warriors. Allison Fox and Madeline Isaak led the way with 13 points each. Kelsey Streeter added 11 and Kodi Noggles finished with 10.

The game against the Wildcats gets underway at 7:15 p.m. tonight at the Spokane Arena.