Sioux City Bishop Heelan is a step closer to another appearance in the Class 3A state championship game.

MaKayla Augustine led another big offensive outing with 22 points and third-ranked Bishop Heelan pulled away in the second half to beat No. 6 Dubuque Wahlert 77-60 in the opening game of the 3A tournament.

Madison Yohe added 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists for the Crusaders, who are the highest-scoring team in their class and almost reached their season scoring average of 79.3 points. Alex Fuller chipped in with 11 points.

Bishop Heelan improved to 24-1 and will play in a semifinal game at 6 p.m. Thursday. The Crusaders won the state championship in 2008 and 2010 and finished second in 2009.

Wahlert made a nice run over the second half of the season after losing University of Iowa recruit Claire Till, who had knee surgery in January. Tessa Leytem led the Golden Eagles with 21 points, making 10 of 18 shots. Logan Lynch scored 13 points, while Beth Walker had 10 points and 16 rebounds for Wahlert, which finished 20-5.

Wahlert started the game on a roll, hitting 10 of 16 first-quarter shots in building a 22-12 lead. The lead grew to 24-12 before Bishop Heelan charged back and tied the score at 34 going into halftime.

Yohe opened the second half with a basket and Bishop Heelan never trailed again. The Crusaders then broke it open a couple of minutes later.

Yohe converted a three-point play on a length-of-the-court drive to start an 8-0 run that made it 48-39. The lead was never below eight points after that.

Augustine's fifth 3-pointer of the game stretched the lead to 63-49 and the Crusaders wrapped it up at the free throw line, making 12 of 16 in the final 3:38.