Benilde-St. Margaret’s held a 27-17 lead over Duluth Central at halftime on Wednesday in the fourth Class 3A quarterfinal at Target Center.

Junior guard Jordan Taylor of BSM had 12 points in the first half. Duluth Central was struggling from the floor, making only five of its 26 shots.Â

Steve McGuiggan scored 31 points as Apple Valley edged Bloomington Jefferson 68-66. McGuiggan, a 6-foot senior guard, made 12 of 22 shots from the field, including three of his seven three-point attempts.

A layup basket by Brett Hubler, after he made a steal, gave the Eagles a 67-64 lead with 2:01 left. Hubler finished with 19 points.

With the score 68-66 Eagles, Hubler missed a free throw with 5 seconds left and Cole Aldrich grabbed the rebound and, at the buzzer, missed a three-pointer.

Aldrich, a 6-11 senior center, finished with 32 points, 21 rebounds and three blocked shots.

The third games of the day at Williams Arena and Target Center were the closest so far. In Class 4A, Apple Valley edged Bloomington Jefferson 68-66 and, in Class 3A, Spring Lake Park beat Waconia 57-55 in overtime.

Kurtis Koenig’s short baseline jumper with 45 seconds left pulled Waconia even with the Panthers at 45-45. The game remained tied and went into overtime when Spring Lake Park missed a long jumper at the buzzer.

The Panthers scored the first six points in overtime to take a 51-45 lead and held on.Â

Buffalo (26-3), which was making its first state appearance in 76 years, and Lakeville South (18-12), which had a roller-coaster season with a midseason coaching change, both were impressive Wednesday in winning quarterfinal games in the Class 4A boys’ basketball state tournament at Williams Arena.

The Bison used a nearly flawless performance in the first 18 minutes — shooting 73 percent from the field with just three turnovers — to build a 29-point halftime lead en route to an 82-61 victory over St. Paul Johnson. Buffalo made 19 of 26 field goal attempts — including 15 of 17 two-point shots — in the first half.

Buffalo eventually built a 34-point lead in the second half.

Karl Olson scored 22 points and Darrin Olmscheid scored 21 — 17 in the first half — to lead Buffalo. Dion Suggs scored 22 points — 19 in the second half — for the Governors.

Lakeville South, which lost its final three regular-season games before winning the Section 1 championship, scored the first 10 points of the game and never trailed. Lakeville South, which led by 14 at halftime, eventually built a 30-point lead.

Brady Soule scored 21 points and Marcus Brumm 19 to lead the Cougars. Max Hintz scored 19 to pace Woodbury.

The fans for both teams packed the Holy Angels gym, creating the best atmosphere I’ve seen all season. The game was close for the entire first half, but HFC’s transition game heated up in the second and St. Croix Lutheran couldn’t keep up. I think Holy Family may surprise a lot of people at state.