First report

Battle Lake had one thing on the back of its mind -- Maranatha. But first, it had to take care of business against Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City.

No. 4-rated Battle Lake never trailed in rolling to an 83-66 victory over the Falcons in the Class 1A quarterfinals on Thursday at Williams Arena. The Battlers (30-1) get exactly what they wanted next, a rematch with No. 2 Maranatha (28-2) in the semifinals at 2 p.m. Friday at Target Center.

“We played pretty well, and got the job done,” Battlers senior forward Nick Trosdahl said. He led four players in double figures with 19 points. “We kept the pedal on the metal.”

Battle Lake’s only blemish this season is a 68-61 loss to Maranatha in December. It has won 22 consecutive games since that setback.

“It will be fun to get another shot at them,” Trosdahl said. “They’re a lot like us. I think we have a shot (at beating them).”

Battle Lake junior guards Andrew VanErp (18 points) and Tony Ukkleberg (12) were also in double digits along with sophomore forward Eric VanErp (11).

Atwater-Cosmos-Grove City senior guard Alex Hendricks scored a game-high 24 points.