Barbe earned a trip to the girls state basketball tournament with a dominant 73-59 win over East St. John Thursday in a quarterfinal game played at LaGrange High School.

The No. 3 Bucs (27-4) advanced to face No. 2 Parkway (28-5) in the semifinals next week in Hammond at Southeastern Louisiana University.

Parkway advanced with a 58-24 win over No. 7 Natchitoches Central.

Barbe dominated No. 11 East St. John (21-9) in the first quarter, scoring 31 points to take a 21-point lead at the end of the quarter. The Bucs went on a 17-0 run in the quarter to take a 22-4 lead.

“That’s what we were preaching this whole week, that East St. John starts fast in their games, so if we could start faster that would put us to where we could pressure them all game,” Bucs head coach Trey DiGiglia said. “Our defense wins for us, and the fast start really allowed us to set up our defense.”

Areil Williams scored eight points in the first quarter while Megan Colston, Mia Colston and Daliannys Maldonado hit 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions to fuel the early outburst. Six Bucs scored in the first quarter.

“That is when the game is beautiful — when everyone is touching the ball and everyone is contributing,” DiGiglia said. “We’re lucky to have two unselfish superstars who pull for their teammates. Our role players are superstars in their roles.”

Williams finished with a team-high 24 points. Mikaylah Manley added 22.

Jasmine Matthews led East St. John with 22 points. Ashia Ward added 14 and Kyla Cage scored 10.

The Bucs will play in their first tournament since 2017, when they beat East St. John in the semifinals before losing to Destrehan in the championship game.

“It validates all the hard work and all the tough practices,” DiGiglia said. “Those June practices where it is tough to get motivated, it all paid off. Hopefully we’re not done.”