ORRVILLE — Nobody could blame the Keith Lady Bears if they started looking ahead around halftime of Monday’s game against Isabella. By then, the game was well in hand and the Bears knew they were headed to the central regional of the 1A state playoffs for the fourth consecutive year.

Keith (23-5) had all the points it would need after the first quarter in a dominant 90-27 win. Harriet Winchester scored 30 points by herself and led 10 Lady Bears in scoring on the night.

“For now we can enjoy this win but come tomorrow we have to put in some work,” Keith head coach Cecil Williams said. “We are trying to move on a little farther, and I know we are going to have a tougher opponent.”

The Mustangs were overwhelmed from the opening tip Tuesday. Winchester scored 15 points in the first quarter — including six in about 20 seconds — as the Bears used a full court press to take a commanding early lead.

“We wanted to see how their ball handling was,” Williams said. “We knew they didn’t have but one ball handler so we came with pressure to see how it would work.”

The Bears forced turnover over turnover — a recurring theme for the rest of the night — and led 28-9 after the first quarter. The lead just kept growing from there as Keith scored 51 points in an explosive first half and had a 35-point advantage at the break.

Dasheena Thomas scored 6 of her 10 points in the first half and Zykia Pettway contributed 7 of her 10.

Williams gave his starters another go in the third quarter, as he tried to get them ready for what has become an annual tradition of meeting Loachapoka in Montgomery. The Bears and Indians have met the last two seasons Alabama State University’s Acadome in central regional games and will do so again Friday at 3 p.m.

The teams already met on a neutral floor once this year too, as Loachapoka defeated Keith 42-36 in a tournament played at Faulkner University on New Years Eve.

“I always tell them the last seven games are the ones that matter the most,” Williams said. “We’ve got three out of the way and four more to go. We are counting them down as they go. Hopefully we can knock all of them down.”