By Don Ketchum

The girls’ basketball team from Phoenix Desert Vista was thinking upset against Phoenix St. Mary’s in their Division I quarterfinal game on Monday (Feb. 20) at Arizona State’s Wells Fargo Arena.

Why couldn’t the Thunder rely on the same mindset as Desert Vista’s football team did when it pulled a huge upset over heavily favored Chandler Hamilton in the championship game last fall?

In Monday’s case, however, reality was not equal to hope.

St. Mary’s has a way of dashing dreams and did so with ease, recovering from a sluggish start for a 77-39 victory.

The third-seeded Lady Knights (28-0), who captured the Class 5A Division I crown last season, advance to Thursday’s (Feb. 23) semifinal game against Mesa Dobson or Gilbert Highland at Jobing.com Arena in Glendale. Tipoff is 2:30 p.m.

In the early stages against sixth-seeded Desert Vista (25-7), St. Mary’s missed high-percentage shots, including some layups, but its defense prevented the Thunder from scoring much at the other end.

“We struggled a bit on offense early, but our defense keeps us in the game and it’s a matter of time before we start making some shots,’’ said St. Mary’s coach Curtis Ekmark.

St. Mary’s led by “only’’ seven points (17-10) after the first quarter, then went on a 25-10 run in the second for a 42-20 halftime lead. It was more of the same in the third quarter with a 69-32 lead, putting the running clock in play for the fourth quarter.

Courtney Ekmark led the way for St. Mary’s with 24 points, including four 3-pointers, and Shilpa Tummala scored 21.

“It’s difficult to key on any one or two kids,’’ Curtis Ekmark said. “Danielle (Williams) is usually our defensive stopper, but she hit two “3’s’ to start the game.’’

Jayme Brugman scored 18 points to lead Desert Vista and Emily Wolph scored 10.

Ekmark said that playing tough competition at the Nike Tournament of Champions in Chandler during the holidays is helping his team during the Division I tournament.

“All the players buy into what you are trying to do,’’ Ekmark said. “I think that people tend to underestimate that aspect, where the kids learn to play together. A team can have a lot of talent but not play together. Our kids play together. They honestly don’t care who scores the points.’’