Andy Affholter folded his arms, gritted his teeth and wondered to which planet the collective minds of his Granger girls had gone.

In the closing seconds of the first quarter of their Class 1A state quarterfinal against Seattle Academy, the Spartans had not made a basket and all they had to show for over seven minutes of work was three free throws.

But Affholter knew there was plenty of time left and he knows what his kids can do, like drop teams into a black hole in the second half.

Granger's Italia Mengarelli drives against Seattle Academy's Chloe Jourdan, front, and Lanise Laube during their quarterfinal game Thursday.   KRIS HOLLAND/Yakima Herald-Republic

"That's been our motto all season — wear teams down," the coach said. "We didn't have a very good start today, but we just kept grinding."

For the second straight day, Granger's girls hit the fourth quarter with sprinters' speed, turning a close game into a rout as the Spartans defeated Seattle Academy 46-29 on Thursday to earn the program's first trip to the state semifinals since 1978.

After outscoring Freeman 18-5 in the fourth quarter of Wednesday's opening-round upset, Granger bested Seattle Academy 17-2 in the final period.

"The second half is our best half, always has been," said freshman Italia Mengarelli, who sank five free throws and scored seven of her 11 points in the final frame. "That's when we turn it on."

Despite making just 4 of 19 shots in the first half, the Spartans still led at the break, 18-17. The questions Affholter had during the early going weren't about the defense.

"I was thrilled with the defense. We feel if we hold teams to 30, 40 points we've got a chance to win and tonight we held them to 29," Affholter noted. "Even when the girls weren't scoring very well they kept playing tough defense. That's something they've really matured through."

Granger's defense was basically comprised of one thing — keep track of No. 21, Mackenzie Brandon. The 5-foot-10 junior scored a career-high 33 points in Wednesday's win over Rainier and she was clearly the main scoring threat for the Cardinals.

"After she dropped 33 we had to try and slow her down," Mengarelli said. "We had to help out as much as possible."

"On film you could see it. If we don't get help she'll just dribble right through us," Janae Klarich added. "We had to come together and help each other so she couldn't take over the game."

Jessica Carpenter drew most of the primary defense of Brandon, and when she got into foul trouble Aja Maldonado finished the job.

"Jessica was great, and Aja was amazing," Affholter said. "Aja deserves a game ball."

Brandon still did damage with 22 points, seven rebounds and four steals. But she got little help on the offensive end. Removing Brandon from the final statistics, the Cardinals were 3-for-32 from the field and 1-for-7 from the foul line.

As Granger tightened down on defense in the second half, its offense loosened up. And everybody got involved.

Samantha Zapien converted a 3-point play to start the final period, Mengarelli scored on a driving layin and Klarich popped in her second 3-pointer in a flurry that turned a two-point game into a double-digit lead for the Spartans.

"We definitely picked it up in the second half," said Klarich, the sophomore point guard who led her team again with 14 points. "We just didn't have it in the first half, but some of that was their defense — they were pretty quick. We had to adjust to that."

Part of the adjustment was drawing contact. Mengarelli and Zapien combined to make 17 free throws as Granger finished 20-for-29 from the foul line.

Granger (22-4) will face SCAC foe Burbank (22-3) in today's first semifinal at 5:30 p.m. In their lone meeting this season, Burbank held the Spartans to season-low scoring in a 43-26 win in the district semifinals.

"We had trouble hitting our shots in that game," Klarich recalled. "If we can get that turned around, we've got a good shot. As well as we're playing now and the energy we have, we've got a good shot."