MISSOULA — The first-quarter defense was promising enough, but the Columbia Falls Wildkats didn’t take full advantage.

Then the Billings Central Rams heated up, taking off in the second quarter on the way to a 65-30 win over the Kats at the State A girls basketball tournament Wednesday.

Mya Hansen shook off a slow start with a vintage second quarter, scoring 10 points. The period ended with Lauren Dull’s half-court heave banking in for a 32-13 Rams lead.

Lily Bland’s steal and layup to start the third quarter signaled more of the same for the Rams (19-3), who’ll battle rival Hardin (19-4) in Friday’s 6:30 p.m. semifinal. Hardin beat Hamilton 62-48 earlier Wednesday.

Columbia Falls (16-7) falls into a loser-out game against Miles City (10-12), which fell to Butte Central 61-59 in the final minute of Wednesday’s first game. That will tip off at 8 p.m. Thursday.

Hansen, the future Butler Bulldog, finished with 16 points. She missed her first three shots and made her next six. The Rams missed 11 of their first 12 attempts, but then Maria Stewart got a three to go at the first-quarter buzzer, and Central led 5-4.

“That first quarter we had them a little bit on the ropes,” Wildkats coach Cary Finberg said. “And they hit that shot at the end of the first that kind of built their momentum for the second. Then they throw in a half-court shot at halftime.

“For us to be successful against that tteam, we needed them to have an off night and they didn’t.”

Hansen hit two 3-pointers in a 13-2 run that put the Rams up 29-11 in the second quarter; her jumper made it 58-28 at 5:35 of the fourth. She also grabbed five boards and dished out six assists.

Maddie Robison scored 12 points for the Kats, who will try to regroup against another good-shooting team, Miles City. Hope McAtee had seven points and seven rebounds.

“We talked about that,” Finberg said. “Our goal is to get to Friday. We want to get to Saturday, but we need to get to Friday before we do that. If we play like we did in the first quarter, I like our chances. But we’re not going to see a team like (the Rams) tomorrow. Hats off to those guys.”

Bland added 12 for Central, which shot 51 percent for the game.

C-Falls 4 9 12 5 - 30

Bil. Central 5 27 18 15 - 65

COLUMBIA FALLS — Maddie Robison 5-14 0-0 12, Grace Gedlaman 2-6 1-5 5, Hope McAtee 1-6 5-6 7, Alexis Green 1-2 0-0 2, Madeline Stutman 0-0 0-0 0, Lexi Oberholtzer 1-3 0-0 2, Abbie Darslow 0-1 0-0 0, Kya West 0-0 0-1 0, taryn Borgen 0-2 0-0 0, emalee Alton 0-1 0-0 0, Scout Medhus 0-1 2-3 2, Demye Rensel 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 10-36 8-15 30.

BILLINGS CENTRAL — Hailey Euell 4-10 0-0 8, Lily Bland 5-7 0-0 12, Maria Stewart 2-5 0-0 6, Mya Hansen 6-9 2-2 16, Kendall Wahl 0-1 0-0 0, Solei Elletson 2-6 0-0 5, Jessa Larson 0-2 0-0 0, Lauren Dull 3-4 1-2 9, Dominique Evans 1-2 0-0 3, Ryen Hadley 1-1 1-2 4, Katie Smith 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 25-49 4-6 65.

3-point goals — CF 2-15 (Robison 2-7), BC 11-23 (Dull 2-3, Stewart 2-3, Bland 2-4, Hansen 2-4, Elletson 1-4, Hadley 1-1, Evans 1-2). Rebounds — CF 26 (McAtee 7), BC 30 (Hansen 5). Fouls — CF 10, BC 16. Fouled out — Stewart. Assists — CF 4 (4 with 1), BC 16 (Hansen 6). Steals — CF 5 (Robison 4), BC 12 (Bland 4). Turnovers — CF 20, BC 11.

Hardin 62, Hamilton 48

Dierra Takes Enemy led a balanced Bulldog attack with 12 points, while Evelyn Old Coyote added 11 points and Kamber Good Luck checked in with 10.

Hamilton (20-5) made some runs, but Hardin seemed to be ready with a deep three: Good Luck hit one to put her team up 36-28 late in the second quarter, Aiyanna Big Man hit one to put her team ahead 48-37 midway through the third quarter.

The gap wouldn’t get under 10 again.

Old Coyote had 10 rebounds, five at the offensive end.

Taryn Searle led Hamilton with 12 points. Layne Kerns added eight points and 12 rebounds.

Butte Central 61, Miles City 59

Brooke Badovinac scored 31 points for the Maroons, who made up a 44-39 deficit going into the final period.

Turnovers plagued the youthful Cowgirls down the stretch, offsetting a 10-for-17 performance from the 3-point line.

Veronica Turck and Jillian Kanduch hit four 3-pointers each for Miles City. Kanduch had 14 points and Turck 12; Alora Baker scored 15 points.