COLORADO SPRINGS – It’s down to four. And the Basalt girls basketball team is still standing.

Three Longhorn players hit double figures as fifth-seed Basalt downed fourth-seed Estes Park 64-49 at Widefield High School to advance to the semifinals of the Class 3A State Championships.

Basalt faces No. 1-seed Bishop Machebeuf (24-1) tonight at 8:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on KMTS-FM (99.1). Machebeuf defeated No. 8-seed Platte Valley (21-4) Thursday, 56-43.

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Senior Mariah Mulcahy led the offensive charge for the Longhorns with a 23-point showing.

“It was typical Mariah,” Basalt coach Debbie Alcorta said. “She bulldozed through everybody and scored inside. Then she comes outside and hits a 3-pointer. Just typical Mariah.”

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Mulcahy finished with two treys in the game and was joined in double figures by Autumn Caughern, with 16 points, and Lauren Redfern, with 15. Alcorta also credited Redfern as being a dominating presence in the paint.

“Redfern was amazing on the boards,” Alcorta said. “She got a ton of rebounds for us.”

While the Longhorns got the usual solid scoring effort from the typical cast, it was defense that won the game, according to Alcorta.

Basalt opened the game with a full-court press and took a 17-10 lead after the first quarter. Due to foul trouble, the Longhorns backed off in the second quarter and went to intermission with just a 28-26 advantage.

Basalt went back to the press in the third quarter and took off on a 16-0 run – outscoring the Estes Park 18-7 in the frame – but couldn’t put the Bobcats away until late in the fourth.

“(Estes Park) fought back,” Alcorta said. “Man, we made some very silly mistakes emotionally. The girls recognize we can’t do that again.”

Estes Park drew within four points of the lead, but Caughern netted six straight free throws in the final two minutes to seal the contest.

As a team, the Longhorns were deadly from the charity stripe. Basalt missed just four of its 28 free throws, with Mulcahy going 7-for-7, Caughern hitting 6-of-6 and Rochelle Moebius a perfect 4-for-4.

“I told them in the locker room before the game that we’re as good as any team out here,” Alcorta said. “If we go out and play the game and do the things we need to, we will walk out with a `W’.”

In other Class 3A girls state tournament action, No. 7 Roosevelt downed No. 2 St. Mary’s (23-3) by a 46-40 margin. No. 14 La Junta (19-5) and No. 11 Ignacio (17-6) played a late game Thursday night.

Basalt 64, Estes Park 49

Basalt 17 11 18 18-64

Estes Park 10 16 7 16-49

BASALT – Allison Brummet 0 0-0 0, Autumn Caughern 4 6-6 16, Ashley Eaton 0 0-0 0, Makenzie Holmes 1 0-0 2, Rochelle Moebius 1 4-4 6, Mariah Mulcahy 7 7-7 23, Brittany Pollock 0 0-0 0, Lauren Redfern 4 7-11 15, Amanda Schmitt 0 0-0 0, Deanna Spracher 0 0-0 0, March Thompson 1 0-0 2. Totals 18 24-28 64.

ESTES PARK – Rachel Brooks 2 1-3 5, Briana Brown 0 0-0 0, Rachel Carter 3 0-0 9, Amy Doiron 0 0-0 0, Patti Holgerson 0 0-0 0, Ruth Anna Koehler 6 0-1 13, Angie Richardson 0 0-0 0, Rotan 1 0-0 2, Dawn Shockley 4 6-8 16, Rachel Strom 2 0-0 4, Jill Van Horn 0 0-0 0, Chelsea Vendegna 0 0-0 0. Totals 18 7-12 49.

3-pointers – Caughern 2, Mulcahy 2; Carter 3, Koehler, Shockley 2. Fouled out – not available. Technicals – not available.