AUGUSTA — The North Yarmouth Academy girls basketball team got off to a quick start on its mission of winning a Class C South title.

The top-seeded Panthers rolled to a 72-26 victory over No. 8 Madison in a quarterfinal game Tuesday night at the Augusta Civic Center. NYA (18-1) will play No. 4 Hall-Dale in the semifinals at 11:30 a.m. on Friday in Augusta.

Since losing top point guard Angel Huntsman to a knee injury earlier in the month, the Panthers have now gone 4-1, with multiple players getting involved in their scoring.

Madilyn Onorato led the Panthers with 14 points, while Sarah English added 11 points. Ella Giguere and Graca Bila each had 10 points for the Panthers.

“We’re really excited,” Onorato said. “We’re definitely missing Angel, but we’re really excited.”

Raegan Cowan led Madison (13-7) with nine points, while Jacey Moody added six points.

The Panthers jumped out to a quick first quarter lead, thanks to a 9-0 run. NYA later added an 18-0 run between the first and second quarters and went into halftime with a 40-16 lead.

“Everyone’s doing their part (offensively),” Onorato said. “We’re not stepping up into Angel’s shoes, but we’re trying hard.”

NYA added a 14-0 run and an 8-0 run in the third quarter for a 62-22 lead before revving back in the fourth.

Madison won a thrilling 56-53 prelim game over Carrabec on Feb. 14 to earn its place into the quarterfinal round.

“I think we showed improvement all year,” Madison head coach Al Veneziano said. “We had a tough game at Carrabec in the prelim. That was a good win for us. Obviously, NYA is a good team. They have good 3-point shooting, they have a lot of inside shooting. Do you stop the inside? Do you stop the perimeter? You’ve got to pick one.

“I thought the kids worked hard, they didn’t give up,” Veneziano continued. “That was a big thing. It’s all part of it. We got here this year. Next year, we hope to go a big further.”