With 27 seconds remaining in the biggest game of the Class 1A girls state tournament — so far, anyway, Lynden Christian fans began chanting "Undefeated! Undefeated!"

That's a little bit early, even though the Lyncs are now 27-0 after their 62-55 nailbiter over four-time defending champion Colfax.

But they still have two games yet to win — tonight's 9 p.m. semifinal against Lakeside (17-11), and then one of the two SCAC teams in the other semifinal, West Division champion Granger (22-4) or East Division heavyweight Columbia (Burbank), which shook off a stubborn Nooksack Valley challenge to reach the semis for the first time in its school history.

Burbank's defense was sensational in the Coyotes' 48-38 quarterfinal victory, in which they broke away from a 30-30 deadlock by holding the Pioneers scoreless for nearly 11 minutes, scoring 11 points.

"We called timeouts but there wasn't anything to say — just keep doing what you're doing," Burbank coach John Muchlinski said. "I'm a defensive-minded coach — defense, defense, defense, is what I believe in."

Burbank's Brianne Smith, who scored eight of her game-high 21 points in the final 11/2 quarters when the Coyotes put the game away, was enjoying the moment of realizing the team's berth in the semifinals.

"It feels awesome," she said. "We've been working so hard all year just to be in this position."

So, too, have their semifinal opponents from Granger, who took a 43-26 thumping from Burbank in the SCAC District semifinals. Spartans coach Andy Affholter knows his team will have to change some things if Granger expects a different result.

"We'll play the underdog card, sure," said Affholter, whose team has just a single senior. "Hey, we've got nothing to lose. We weren't even supposed to be here in the semifinals.

"We've gotta find a way. One of the things that's scary about them is five of their top seven kids are seniors. I watched them some during the regular season and they looked bored. But they're not bored now."

Neither is Lakeside, who would be the longshot squad in this semifinal foursome even if they weren't about to face Lynden Christian. The Eagles have just matched their longest win streak of the season: three games.

"We play Colfax and Freeman in our league, and we played them seven times this year," said Eagles coach Jeff Pietz after Lakeside's 45-35 quarterfinal victory over Connell. "They got us battle-tested."

Noting that his game followed the big LC-Colfax showdown, Pietz said, "I told our girls we're the undercard today — but don't be afraid to put on that glass slipper."