Times Observer Photo by Steve Younger Clara Steinberg

ERIE — The Eisenhower girls basketball team jumped out to a huge first-quarter lead and used that momentum the rest of the game to defeat Greenville 66-35 on Saturday in the District 10 AAA quarterfinals.

The Knights started out with full-court defensive pressure, forcing turnovers and turning them into uncontested points. Combined with Lainey Font’s two 3-pointers, Eisenhower opened up a 20-5 first-quarter advantage and it never looked back. By the end of the third quarter, in fact, the Knights led 56-23.

Senior Clara Steinberg paced Eisenhower with 23 points, 11 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and two steals; and Font added 18 points. Greenville was led by freshman Ava Cascio’s 14 points.

The Knights (15-8) now advance into the District 10 AAA semifinal game at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Mercyhurst University where they will play top-seeded Northwestern (20-3). The Wildcats, who have defeated Eisenhower twice this season (51-39 and 56-49), are led by University of Arizona recruit Mikayla Presser-Palmer, who averages 28.9 points per game.

GREENVILLE (35)

Hart 3 0 8, Kirila 2 2 8, Cascio 5 2 14, Zane 0 0 0, Mallek 0 0 0, Robertson 2 0 4, Tokar 0 1 1, Totals 12 5 35.

EISENHOWER (66)

Font 7 2 18, Childs 3 0 6, Belcher 3 1 7, Robinault 3 1 7, Steinberg 10 1 23, Melquist 0 0 0, Scott 0 0 0, Kent 0 0 0, Black 2 0 5, Walker 0 0 0, Guiher 0 0 0, Atwell 0 0 0, Totals 28 5 66.

3-point goals — Hart 2, Kirila 2, Cascio 2, Font 2, Steinberg 2, Black.

Greenville 5 12 6 12 — 35

Eisenhower 20 19 17 10 — 66