ROCHESTER — The No. 2 seeded Lyle-Pacelli girls basketball team relied on its depth as it beat No. 3 seeded Blooming Prairie 54-27 in a Section 1A West semifinal game in Mayo Civic Center Monday.

The Athletics were already missing starter Kendal Truckenmiller due to injury to begin the game and their lineup got thinner when senior Sarah Holtz and junior Bethany Strouf each picked up their fourth foul early in the second half. With his veterans on the verge of fouling out, LP head coach Justin Morris went to his bench as LP looked to hold on to a 35-18 lead with 12:30 left in the game.

“We had young kids step up,” Morris said. “Abby Bollingberg and Olivia Christianson stepped up and gave us some great energy. Olivia was all over the place and Abby was running the floor. They really stepped up and rose to the occasion.”

Holtz eventually returned to the game to score her 2,000th career point as she finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Holtz, who also has more than 1,000 career rebounds, puts her team first, but she recognizes how rare the feat of scoring 2,000 points is for a high school basketball player.

“It means a lot. I really try not to let points affect me and I really try to focus on being a team player,” Holtz said. “I know it’s an honor and I know not very many people get it. I’m honored, but I’m trying to stay humble at the same time.”

Whether she knows it or not, Holtz has left a major impression on LP’s younger players. Christianson, who had one point, eight rebounds, three assists and three steals, said that Holtz has served as a great role model for the team.

“She means a ton to our team and I look up to her a lot. I would want to follow her as a person and as a basketball player,” Christianson said.

LP (25-3 overall) came into the game as a heavy favorite, but it led just 3-2 five minutes into the game after McKenna Hein hit a jump shot for BP (15-11 overall). LP finally started to pull away when Courtney Walter, who scored all 15 of her points in the first half, scored nine straight points to put her team up 14-2 with 10:00 left in the first half.

“We had to have a lot of patience,” Holtz said. “It’s easy to get down on yourself and think the worst. I think the experience from the past two years told us that we could win the game, even if we didn’t get a head start.”

Holtz, who rarely faces foul trouble, said it was a little tough to sit out for a stretch in the second half, but she has faith in the bench to step up their game when needed.

“We really trust them. They put in the time and they have the work ethic,” she said. “We knew they would do whatever it took to win.”

BP was led by Lauren Larkoski who had eight points and four rebounds and Hannah Ahrens had four points, four rebounds and three steals. BP head coach John Bruns felt the pace of the game was were his team wanted it, but the Awesome Blossoms needed a little more offense.

“We wanted to control the tempo and it really didn’t feel like we were down that much at halftime,” Bruns said. “I thought we were playing at the tempo we wanted and other than Courtney Walter hitting a few threes, we were pretty solid defensively. We just couldn’t put the ball in the hoop, and I credit [LP] for that too because they made us work.”

LP will now take its next step in its quest to get back to the state tournament. The Athletics, who finished fourth at state last year, will face a huge test when they play Goodhue in the Section 1A West title game 11 a.m. Saturday in Mayo Civic Center.

LP, which has won 13 in a row, lost to the Wildcats 75-62 Jan. 16 and LP is hoping to play much better on the defensive end Saturday.

“We’re excited,” Holtz said. “They beat us kind of badly earlier in the season, but I think we have the determination and fight in us. Last year is fueling the fire and we know what it’s like to win against them. We want to make it make back to state. We know it’s a hurdle that we have to jump.”

As for BP, the Blossoms made a lot of strides considering Bruns was in his first year as head coach and the team had a group of players who weren’t used to playing with each other until this season.

“I really credit the girls with being coachable, working together and ironing out those little differences,” Bruns said. “They became a very solid team.”

BP 9 18 — 27

LP 27 27 — 54

LP scoring: Sarah Holtz, 18; Courtney Walter, 15; Kristi Fett, 14; Abby Bollingberg, 4; Bethany Strouf, 2; Olivia Christianson, 1; free throws: 54 percent (12-for-22); rebounds: 45 rebounds (Holtz, 10; Fett, 10); turnovers: 18

BP scoring: Lauren Larkoski, 8; Kalyn Naatz, 6; Kylie Forystek, 5; Hannah Ahrens, 4; McKenna Hein, 2; Kaci Gwilt, 1; Marissa Larson, 1; free throws: 44 percent (11-for-25); rebounds: 24 (Larkoski, 4); turnovers: 20