Same day, same time, same court, same opponent, same consequences.

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And for Prosser's girls, parallel events were taken even further with the same victory -- one point away from the same score.

A year after defeating Elma 61-56 in the Class 2A state quarterfinals, the Mustangs sent the Eagles packing again Thursday night, 62-56, to reach the semifinals for the third year in a row.

These two also met in the 2008 trophy game for third and sixth, and Prosser won that one, too, 79-51.

"We've played them the last two years and we've figured out exactly what they like to do," said junior Tamara Jones, who scored 23 points on 9-for-16 shooting and grabbed 12 rebounds. "They've got some great players but we played another great defensive game."

Elma's college-bound standouts were definitely a handful as 6-foot Brandi Thomas, a WSU recruit, put together 23 points and 10 rebounds, and Western Washington signee Katie Colard had 13 points, seven rebounds and five assists.

But with the streaky Colard connecting on just 3 of 19 shots -- a defensive job credited mostly to senior Kelli Wilson -- the Eagles shot 34 percent from the field while Prosser shot 45.5, including an even 13-for-26 in the second half.

"We remembered them real well from last year and that gave us a lot of confidence," said sophomore Helen Petersen, who made 3 of 4 free throws in the last 37 seconds and finished with 14 points, six rebounds and three assists. "We stuck with our tough man-to-man and doubled when we could on the big girls. Everybody did their job."

Including a feisty freshman, Sydney Mercer, who came off the bench to score four field goals in the middle two quarters and grab four rebounds in 14 big minutes of support. He two baskets in the third quarter came in the final minute after Elma had trimmed an eight-point deficit to 42-41.

"That's Syd the kid," smiled coach Mark Little, whose team extended its win streak to 13. "She was ready when it was her turn."

"She's a kick, a real spark plug," Petersen added. "Sydney came up huge for us."

The Eagles were within 54-51 and had the ball with three minutes left but over their next five possessions came away with two turnovers and two missed shots without an offensive rebound.

"Elma can do some damage and you can't stop them, just make it as tough as you can," Little said. "The kids did a fantasic job and everybody chipped in. They worked very hard for this."

Even with Elma's 6-0, 6-1 front line, the Mustangs owned a 41-30 advantage on the boards. In addition to her defense on Colard, who didn't hit her first field goal until late in the third period, Wilson collected five assists.

Prosser (21-3) will now turn its attention to another familiar state opponent -- West Valley of Spokane -- in tonight's 9 p.m. semifinal. The unbeaten Eagles (24-0), who outlasted Ellensburg in Thursday's late quarterfinal, defeated the Mustangs 63-49 in last year's trophy game for third and sixth.