YAKIMA – It was a tale of two halves for the second-seeded Zillah girls on Saturday afternoon against No. 7 Seton Catholic.

After struggling to get the ball inside against a stifling Cougars defense during the first two quarters, the Leopards emerged from the locker room on a mission, going on a 25-0 run to earn a 49-27 victory in their Class 1A state regional at Davis High School.

The victory pushes the Leopards, fourth place a year ago, into Thursday’s quarterfinal round in the Yakima Valley SunDome.

“At halftime, we talked about how we just needed to push through,” said junior June Fiander, who scored 12 points, including six during the decisive third quarter. “The connection we have with each other just made us want to come out and put in the extra effort and finish the game.”

The Leopards took a three-point lead after the first quarter but fell behind 16-14 midway through the second. Tegan Figueroa hit a 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining to give the Cougars a 19-18 lead, but that would be the last time Zillah would trail.

Fiander scored right before halftime to give the Leopards a 20-19 advantage, and then scored the first four points of the second half, including a breakaway layup she helped create off a steal at midcourt — one of her four thefts in the game.

Junior forward Makenna Klitzke finally started to find her rhythm, scoring seven straight before another steal and breakaway by Fiander to make it 33-19 with less than a minute left in the third. Sophomore Bella Valadez sank her only trey of the game with 20 seconds remaining, and that was it for the Cougars.

“We struggled with our offense in the first half, and it was frustrating for me because I couldn’t get the ball in the post,” said Klitzke, who finished with a game-high 15 points. “I really wanted to turn it up in the second half, and once I made a few shots, things started going a lot better for us.”

The Leopards (23-2) maintained defensive pressure in the fourth and kept the Cougars scoreless until the 2:45 mark. Despite the slow start, the Leopards are happy with where they finished.

“Coming together like we did in the second half is what it’s going to take for us to go far,” Klitzke said. “We believe we can finish on top, but it’s going to be tough.”

Added Fiander: “We just need to keep lifting each other up. That’s gonna be the key.”