New lineup, same result for Ballard.

Ballard caught top-ranked Benton Community on a night the Bobcats were without their best player and advanced to the Class 3A semifinals for the seventh straight year with a 50-34 first-round victory.

The unranked Bombers have an all-new starting lineup this season and also a new coach in Kelly Anderson, a former assistant at the school. They'll take a 19-6 record into a semifinal matchup with defending state champion Davenport Assumption at 7:45 p.m. Thursday.

Assumption beat Ballard in last year's semifinals.

Benton had to play without leading scorer Madison Weekly, one of the state's top juniors. Weekly broke her left wrist in a regional final victory over Keokuk and wore her uniform as she sat on the bench and cheered her teammates.

The Bobcats couldn't muster the firepower they needed without their star and lost for the first time in 25 games.

Ballard had excellent balance, with Rachel Sage scoring 12 points, Katie Ahrenholtz 10 and Makenzie Ihle nine. Kelsey Brecht led Benton with 14 points and Sara Petrzelka scored seven.

Ballard scored the game's first six points and led 10-2 after one quarter. Benton never got closer than three points the rest of the way.

Ihle's 3-pointer just before the halftime buzzer put the Bombers up 21-14, and they started the third quarter with a 10-3 run to stretch their lead to 31-17. Benton got to within 10 points midway through the fourth quarter before Ballard made 10 of 12 free throws to wrap it up.