If there were any doubts remaining Friday morning about the Zillah girls' return to the trophy round of the Class 1A state basketball tournament, Leopards junior center Rosebud Guthrie swatted them away.

Or Bayli Ziegler shot them down from long range.

Or Felicia Gonzales and Alisi Uasike eased them from the foul line.

Or Joelle Patterson erased them from pretty much any spot on the court.

With a team effort that featured five players in double figures and four players grabbing seven or more rebounds, Zillah (20-7) advanced to Saturday's medal round with a 65-46 victory against Vashon in the SunDome.

Ahead by 10 at halftime, the Leopards used a 14-3 run to open the second half for a 48-27 lead and never looked back.

"We talked about that at halftime; we didn't want it to be a question," said Zillah coach Mindi Winters, who has guided the Leopards to the trophy round in each of her three seasons at the helm.

After an exhausting first-round loss Wednesday to four-time defending state champ Colfax in which Zillah rallied from 20 points down to tie the score at 50-50 in the fourth quarter before losing 65-53, the Leopards fought back to medal.

"That is what I am excited about with this group — their determination," she said.

It's the second straight year Zillah lost in the first round but rallied for a trophy. A year ago the Leopards finished eighth, collecting the program's 11th trophy.

Zillah plays third-ranked Freeman for fifth and eighth place at 10:30 this morning.

The Leopards trailed just once Friday and that was at 3-2, less than a minute into the contest. Besides a brief first-quarter hiccup in which Pirates got back to within two points, Zillah rolled.

"That's the best we played as a team in this tournament," said the 6-foot Guthrie, who scored a team-high 18 points, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked four shots while altering several others.

Exemplifying the team play, four other Zillah players — Gonzales and Patterson (11 points), and Ziegler and Uasike (10) — scored in double digits and 13 of the Leopards' 19 baskets were assisted on.

Gonzales dished out five of those assists including one on a Ziegler 3-pointer to end the first half with Zillah ahead 34-24.

Guthrie got in on the giving act, too, connecting with Patterson for a pair of layins during the victory-sealing run to start the third quarter.

The Pirates never got within 13 points the rest of the way.

Ziegler and Kim Sevigny each pulled down eight rebounds and Uasike — who was 8-for-9 from the free-throw line — had seven.

As for today's matchup with the Scotties, Winters had no plans to tap Granger coach Andy Affholter, whose Spartans beat Freeman 51-35 in the opening round.

"I'm sure he has some things on his mind," she joked several hours before Granger was to lay in the semifinals against Burbank.

Kelly Costello led Vashon with 18 points Anneli Dolmseth added 12. The Pirates struggled shooting making just 20 percent of their shots.