Ballard is now one victory from a return to the Class 3A state championship game.

The third-ranked Bombers jumped to a 13-0 lead and kept Pella at arm's length the rest of the way in beating the sixth-ranked Dutch 53-34 in the state tournament quarterfinals.

Ally Jensen led Ballard (25-1) with 14 points, Alexa Hugee scored 12 and Amanda Zimmerman added 11. The Bombers will take a 21-game winning streak into the semifinals Thursday night against the Norwalk-Cedar Rapids Xavier winner.

Norwalk beat Ballard in last year's championship game.

Brooke Gritters led Pella (22-2) with 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Kelsey Schuring scored 10 points. Haley Brillhart had six steals for the Dutch, whose only losses during the regular season were to Norwalk and Newton. They played Norwalk a second time and won that game.

Hugee and Zimmerman each scored five points to lead Norwalk's early burst. Anytime Pella threatened to make a move after that, Ballard responded with a couple of baskets and pulled away again.

After Pella cut the lead to 21-13 on Schuring's jumper in the second quarter, Ballard finished the half with a 9-4 run to take a 30-17 lead.

Pella got the lead down to 38-27 when Gritters scored at the start of the fourth quarter. But Jensen answered with a 3-pointer and Ballard went on to score the next 10 points to put it out of reach.

Jensen had six of Ballard's 16 steals, grabbed five rebounds and handed out four assists. Sara Jensen made five steals for the Bombers.