Games are supposed to get tougher as the state tournament progresses. That is not the case for top-seed St. Marys.

The Knights raced to a 24-9 lead in the first quarter Thursday and dominated in virtually every facet  to defeat  No. 5 Xavier, 71-42, in the 5A-I semifinals at Jobing.com Arena.

St. Mary's (27-2) advances to the championship game for the third straight year and fifth time in the last seven. The Knights will face Chandler, a 58-54 winner over Mountain View in Thursday's early semifinal in Friday's 5:30 p.m. final. Xavier (22-8) was seeking its first title game appearance since 1986, but was no match for the young (scary), deep Knights.

St. Mary's pressure, shooting and transition pummeled Xavier from the start. The Knights shot 53 percent from the field in the first quarter and 52 percent in the second period. Xavier made just 23 percent of its shots in the first half. The Knights also forced 14 turnovers and went to halftime with a 44-20 advantage. The lead reached 60-27 after three periods, forcing a running clock for the final quarter.

St. Mary's defeated Red Mountain in the first round by 32 and Alhambra in the quarterfinals by 29. The teams met back in early January with St. Mary's winning, 59-50. That game was tight down to the final two minutes.

Junior Shilpa Tummala led St. Mary's balanced offense with 19 points. She made five 3s among hersix field goals. Cortnee Walton added 12 points and Courtney Ekmark chipped in with 10. The Knights started three sophomores and a freshman along with Tummala.

"They make tough shots and I thought we played hard D," first-year Xavier coach Mary Hauser said. "We tried just about everything to disrupt the flow but nothing worked.

"(Tummala) is a big-time player. The best in the state and she played like it."

St. Mary's coach Curtis Ekmark  liked just about everything he saw from his squad and really liked the preparation.

"Give us a week to prepare for a team and we do prettty well," Ekmark said. "We have a smart group of kids and they executed what we gave them. We're blessed with depth, big guards and mobile bigs. We really played well tonight."

Xavier was led in scoring by guard Rikki Mulloy with 12 points.