CLYDE — The Santo girls basketball team started fast and never let up Friday in cruising to a 49-34 win over Haskell in a Region II-2A Division II area-round matchup at Bulldog Gym. 

Led by freshman guard Aubrey Watts, who scored seven of her game-high 20 points in the opening quarter, the Lady Cats grabbed a 14-2 lead by the start of the second period and never saw that advantage shrink below 11 points the rest of the way.

The thorough victory, which saw the gap grow as large as 23 points in the fourth quarter, improved coach Nick Hatten’s team to 22-12 and extended the Lady Cats’ best season in more than a decade into the region semifinals, where they’ll face off with the winner of Honey Grove (30-4) and 20th-ranked Simms Bowie (27-7) next week.