FORT COLLINS - Having the early-morning game and being a second-half team was not the best of combinations for Faith Christian at the Class 3A girls state basketball tournament.

Luckily for the Eagles against St. Mary's in the quarterfinals Thursday, Cortney Bray had little trouble adjusting to the Moby Arena atmosphere in a 55-31 victory.

Bray, a senior, scored a game- best 23 points and took control when Faith Christian had trouble establishing a rhythm offensively.

"It took us awhile to get together, but we were able to get it done," Bray said. "The first day is always the hardest, but after that, you know where you are at."

Bray clearly was a hassle for the Pirates to guard, and the Eagles (22-3) took advantage of that to advance. She scored six points in the first quarter, then came out of the locker room after halftime to post eight more points, mostly off nice feeds from teammate Brittany Long.

"We've played some good post players this year, but (Bray) was probably the most physical one we've played," said St. Mary's coach Mike Burkett, whose team was led by Rachel Niles' 11 points. "She did a good job for them."

St. Mary's had a tough start, and the Pirates (20-5) never were able to get going. They missed their first 11 shots and did not score until there were 39 seconds remaining in the first quarter.

The Pirates cut a 10-0 Eagles lead to 10-7 early in the second, but turnovers killed a number of opportunities to make up more ground. St. Mary's shot 24 percent for the game and had 26 turnovers.

Ten of those miscues came in the third quarter after St. Mary's had trailed only 19-12 at halftime.

The Pirates did hold Long, a threat from outside, to 11 points, but the junior guard helped in several other areas as the Eagles pulled away. After halftime, Long had five rebounds, four assists and two blocked shots.

"We're a second-half team and we respond well to situations," Faith Christian coach Debbie Candelaria said. "It takes us a little while to get used to some things."

Saint Mary's......3	9	8	11	-	31
Faith Christian......10	9	15	21	-	55

SM - Christina Whitelaw 1 1-2 3, Cali Nutter 0 0-2 0, Julia Saenz 2 3-4 8, Samantha Cardenas 0 1-4 1, Rachel Niles 5 0-0 11, Lauren Kuklenski 1 0-0 2, Naomi Drobeck 3 0-0 6, Kirsten Buneke 0 0-0 0, Katie Abeyta 0 0-2 0, Lauren Billing 0 0-0 0, Rica Molet 0 0-0 0. Totals 14 5-14 31.

FC - Cortney Bray 9 5-5 23, Brittany Long 3 4-4 11, Breann McBeth 1 3-4 5, Kayla Endes 2 1-2 5, Amber Roundtree 1 0-0 2, Holly Hoguta 2 2-2 6, Athena Lopez 0 0-2 0, Amber Weingartner 0 3-4 3, Ashley Savage 0 0-0 0, Shelby Bartusek 0 0-0 0. Totals 19 18-23 55.

Three-point goals - SM, Saenz, Niles; FC, Long.

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