The Highland girls' basketball team funneled into a straight line as soon as the horn sounded to signal the end of its 57-45 home win over Madison on Saturday.

The Rams quickly slapped hands with the Bobcats, muttered a few niceties, then vanished into their locker room - thus ending their celebration at clinching a trip to the 5A state tournament.

"If that's how they celebrate, I hate to see what really excites them," Highland coach Scott Hansen said, chuckling.

A district title could do it, Hansen speculated, and a state championship most likely would do the trick. The Rams now get their chance after assuring themselves one of District 4, 5, 6's two state berths.

Senior post Breanne Van Every scored 21 points, and Kylie Hardison chipped in 15 on five 3-pointers. Together, they helped Highland pull away in the second half for their latest dominant performance in a season that's been full of them.

"We're just so relieved we did it," Hardison said. "I'm way excited. When we got in the locker room, we screamed. It was a good relief."

Leading 29-19 at the half, Highland (22-0) put the game out of reach for Madison with a 14-0 run in the third quarter. That burst looked much like the rest of the win: It was powered by nifty post moves from Van Every and timely treys by Hardison.

When the Bobcats collapsed on Van Every inside, Hardison punished them from beyond the arc. When the Bobcats paid her more attention, Van Every got room to maneuver inside. The senior post got to the foul line 16 times and converted on 13 of those attempts.

"At first, they were just collapsing on the post, and it was getting really frustrating," Van Every said. "Then our guards and Kylie started to hit some outside shots, and it opened everything up."

Highland outscored Madison 16-9 in the third quarter to carry a 45-28 lead into the fourth. Madison never got to within single digits again.

Madison now faces a loser-out game against Skyline on Tuesday, with the winner traveling to Highland on Thursday for the district title game.

There's no telling if the Rams have any dramatics in store for that occasion, either.

"We have another goal in mind," Hansen said. "We're going on to the state tournament, and that's what we're after. We want to get there and perform well and have a chance to play hopefully for a championship."

Highland 57, Madison 45

Madison 7 12 9 17 - 45

Highland 12 17 16 12 - 57

Highland: Breanne Van Every 4 13-16 21, Jordan Holman 3 0-0 8, Emma Filiaga 2 0-2 4, Taryn Harding 1 2-4 4, Kylie Hardison 5 0-0 15, Kelsey Belnap 0 2-2 2, Taylor Wilkinson 1 1-2 3.