Dike-New Hartford's third game of the season with Jesup was much more challenging than the first two, but the Wolverines got the same result.
Ellie Foster scored 20 of her 21 points in the first half and her teammates did the rest after that as top-seeded Dike-New Hartford beat Jesup 56-43 to open the Class 3A tournament.
The Wolverines won the regular-season meetings by margins of 23 and 26 points, but Jesup stayed with them most of the way in this one. The J-Hawks trailed just 33-29 early in the third quarter and were down 37-32 after sophomore Amanda Treptow converted a three-point play off a layup.
Katie Knock's 3-pointer and Sophia Hoffmann's bucket inside returned the momentum to Dike-New Hartford and the Wolverines eventually built a 50-34 lead. Jesup came back with seven straight points to get the lead down to nine but could not get any closer.
Knock finished with 10 points for Dike-New Hartford, which won its 21st straight game, and Jill Eilderts grabbed 11 rebounds to go with four points. Ellary Knock added seven points and Hoffmann did a nice job off the bench with six points, three rebounds, two assists and two steals.Treptow led Jesup with 14 points and Brittany Lingenfelter scored 12 for the J-Hawks, who upset Roland-Story in the regional finals to earn their first state tournament berth in 20 years.
Dike-New Hartford, making its third straight appearance at state, will take a 23-1 record into the semifinals at 1:30 p.m. Thursday. Jesup finishes with a 20-5 record.