Lucas and Juhl combined for 35 points as Billings Central defeated Miles City 46-38 on Thursday night in the tournament's first round at Rimrock Auto Arena at MetraPark.

The third-seeded Rams (12-7) move on to play second-seed Laurel (14-5) in Friday's second semifinal.

"I think it'll be back and forth, and it'll be a slugfest," Central coach Jeff Malby said. "I guess it'll be who has the inner strength more than the other. It's such a good rivalry game that it'll be heated battle."

Sidney, in the tournament's first game, rode a dominating second half from Lexi Prevost to beat Glendive 46-40 and advance to the semifinals as well.

Central 46, Miles City 38

Though seeded sixth in the tournament, Miles City won the last time these teams played. So the Rams knew they would be in for a test.

And they got one. For most of the first half the teams battled back and forth, and the game was tied 23-23 with 5:09 left in the third quarter.

Juhl, though, caught fire and the Rams eventually began to distance themselves from the Cowgirls.

Juhl had game-highs of 19 points -- 15 in the second half -- and nine rebounds. Lucas added 16 points, 12 of which came after the first seven minutes of the game as the Rams got things going after a six-point first quarter and led 21-15 at halftime.

"Our passing, we saw each other a lot more," said Lucas, who added four assists and five steals to her totals. "We pushed the ball, which really kicked up our game. Pushing the ball and getting some big steals and easy buckets off those."

Dani Finn scored 12 points to lead Miles City (5-14), while Shaylee Singleton added nine.

The Cowgirls, who dropped into Saturday morning's loser-out action, held a slight rebounding advantage at halftime but were out-boarded 25-16 in the second half. Coach Jacqui Engstrom said that was one of the differences in the game.

"I think there were a lot of little things throughtout the entire game, like no blocking out," said Engstrom, who on Wednesday went past her due date to deliver her baby. "They had a lot of easy layups on us ... I tell the girls all the time it's the little things that can win a ballgame and that's what lost it for us tonight. A couple of players really stepped up for them and we didn't shut them down the way we were supposed to."

Sidney 46, Glendive 40

Sidney entered the tournament having won five of its last six games. But the Lady Eagles quickly found themselves down 9-0 to start the game. And though they battled back to within one point at halftime, they fell flat again in the third quarter.

Glendive started the second half on an 8-0 run and built the lead back up to 22-13.

Then Prevost, and subsequently the Eagles, came alive. The 5-foot-4 junior started a 13-0 Eagles' run over the final 2:50 of the third quarter and Sidney took control from there.

"We just got out and played better defense," Prevost said. "Their post (Brooke Herring) got a lot of rebounds, we needed to rebound better than we did. We just had to settle down and take good shots on offense."

Prevost poured in 18 points in the game's final 11 minutes and Elise Torgerson finished with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Though Glendive (9-10) stayed within reach, the Eagles closed things out by making 9 of 12 free throws in the last 2:22 of the game.

"I felt I was a little lackadaisical" in the first half, said Prevost, who finished with a game-high 20 points. "So I just tried to be a little more aggressive. I took what was open and shots started falling for me."

Herring had 18 points and 11 rebounds, and Jordan Johnson also had a double-double of 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Lady Red Devils, who had 25 turnovers and made just 9 of 19 free throws, dropped into a Saturday morning loser-out game.

Sidney (13-6) plays top-seeded Hardin (12-6) in Friday's first semifinal. Sidney beat Hardin last Saturday, but both teams played without key players: Krista Steinbeisser for Sidney and Kanani Birdinground for Hardin. Both will play Friday.

"Turnovers will be the key," Sidney coach Jace Sullivan said. "They pressure, pressure, pressure. It's kind of nice, because we had a full week of Hardin preparation (to end the regular season) and then we had a full week of Glendive preparation (for the tournament). So it's like we've had two weeks to prep for this tournament. The girls will know what to do Friday, hopefully. It's just go out and do it."