COLORADO SPRINGS - There is always the suspicion, when a high school player has a statistic as gaudy as Hayley Hollenga does, that somebody is pulling a fast one.

The Air Academy senior entered Wednesday's Class 5A Sweet 16 game against Heritage averaging 5.42 steals a game. She added eight more to her total at the World Arena, as the second-seeded Kadets beat the Eagles 70-56.

"Stealing is my favorite thing to do," Hollenga said. "My steals aren't cheating. I just feel I can see what other players are going to do."

Hollenga got off to a great start with her favorite thing, registering two thefts in the first 90 seconds. She ended the first quarter with five steals, but her best one came in the second quarter.

On that occasion, Hollenga poked the ball free from Lexi Stirling's dribble at midcourt and took the ball in for a layup.

"That was the best one," Hollenga said.

The layup, as well as a nice drive and pullup jumper from Wendy Sherman, gave Air Academy a 25-15 lead.

The Kadets (24-1) never trailed, using good defense and rebounding to jump to a 6-0 lead.

Allison Drescher was instrumental in that early lead, coming up with a basket, rebound and assist in the first two minutes and finishing with an impressive 14 rebounds.

"We have a lot of business to take care of," Drescher said, referring to a quarterfinal exit by Air Academy in last year's tournament. The Kadets have won 19 in a row.

Heritage's Beckett Brennan led all scorers with 19 points.