St. Marys junior Brynnley Bulluck, right, dribbles past Valley’s Michaela Miller during Thursday’s Class A, Region I quarterfinal at St. Marys High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

ST. MARYS — The halftime message was short but effective.

Thursday in a Class A, Region I tournament game at St. Marys High School, St. Marys girls basketball coach Fred King spent maybe a minute at the most with his team at the break. Whatever few choice words were expressed, the players responded by scoring the first 22 points in the third quarter and allowing just six points for the entire second half in an 87-26 victory — the 11th straight for a St. Marys squad which moved within one win from punching its ticket to the state tournament.

The regional’s top-seeded Blue Devils (19-4) host Cameron at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, March 4.

“I said correct it in the third quarter or I will,” coach King said. “And they know what that means. In the first half, we weren’t passing well and we weren’t moving well. We weren’t moving without the ball and we were doing too much dribbling sideways and not into the basket.

“In the second half, we had structure. The first half was discombobulated.”

A host of players, including St. Marys’ Rylee Renner, far left, and Landrey Riggs, far right, try to save the ball from going out of bounds during Thursday’s Class A, Region I quarterfinal at St. Marys High School. Also pictured is Valley’s Alexis Highley (23). (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

After scoring 17 points in the first half, St. Marys junior Brynnley Buckley never stepped outside the arc while making six buckets from the free-throw line extended. She stayed on the floor long enough to attempt one 3-pointer, which fell in at the 4:15 mark of the fourth quarter for her 40th and final point.

Buckley also pulled down 11 rebounds.

“With this being the beginning of the postseason, I think it kind of got our nerves working a little bit — so the first half was kind of iffy,” Bulluck said. “We just decided to come out in the second half and play our game, have fun with it because you never know when it’s going to end.

“Lately this season, we finally decided to trust each other. We’re looking for our teammates and we’re taking our shots when we are open. We are playing with more confidence and that’s good that we are getting into a groove.”

The Blue Devils did not press, but individuals like Anna Bennett thrived in their harassing half-court man defense. After Valley scored its only four points of the third quarter to stem the tide to a degree down 57-24, Bennett recorded steals on consecutive possessions which eventually led to Blue Devils buckets.

St. Marys’ Anna Bennett, let, is greeted by teammate Lana Gilfillan (15) during player introductions prior to the start of Thursday’s game with Valley in a Class , Region I quarterfinal at St. Marys High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

Bennett converted an and-one as part of her 11 points, while Watkins converted a putback to put St. Marys in front 62-24 at the quarter break. Watkins, who scored 13 in the third period, finished with 21 points.

“Yeah, coach yelled at us a little bit then basically walked right out of the locker room — in the second half we definitely worked well together,” Bennett said. “It was like poetry in motion, almost. We just kind of know where each other are going to be. We know how we are going to play.”

Since returning from missing at least three games due to ankle issues, Bennett continues to bring energy to the floor.

“I can’t tell you how much I hate sitting the bench and watching my team because it is not fun,” Bennett said. “Being on the court is definitely a lot better. I’m still not exactly 100%, but I’ve taken the precautions and all that stuff.”

St. Marys came out the gates firing and built an 11-0 lead in the first three minutes of the game. Valley’s Laken Dawson ended the drought with three of her team-high 15 points.

St. Marys’ Laney Watkins (11) dribbles ahead of Valley’s Aubree Mason (10) during Thursday’s Class A, Region I quarterfinal at St. Marys High School. (Photo by Kerry Patrick)

The Blue Devils built the lead back to 20 (28-8) at the four-minute mark of the second quarter before Valley made one last push — started by Alexis Highley’s 3-pointer. Behind seven straight points from Dawson late in the second quarter, the Lumberjills closed out the first half outscoring St. Marys 9-2 and climbing within 32-20.

The Blue Devils answered the reality check by outscoring Valley 55-6 in the second half, including a 30-point third quarter.

“Give Valley’s coaching staff credit for what they did to us in the first half,” King said. “They forced us outside. All we had to do was pass it two more times.”

Contact Kerry Patrick at kpatrick@newsandsentinel.com