Marengo coach Elisa Hanson challenged the rest of her players Monday night to compete the way guard Myah Broughton did during the first half against Genoa-Kingston.

The Indians’ confident 5-foot-5 junior led her team with 10 points in the first two quarters, making two 3-pointers and almost adding a third as her final shot of the first half rimmed out.

[ Photos: Marengo vs. Genoa-Kingston, Class 2A Regional girls basketball ]

“I said it in the locker room that Myah is the only one playing to win,” Hanson said. “She’s shooting with confidence, she’s playing hard, she’s not second-guessing her shot opportunities. We just challenged the girls in the second half to go out and win, to play like Myah.”

Marengo, led by Broughton’s career-best 29 points, responded in a big way in the third quarter, turning a tie game at halftime into a runaway win. The third-seeded Indians went on to beat the fifth-seeded Cogs 55-32 to reach the Class 2A Marengo Regional final.

Marengo (21-9) will meet No. 2 St. Edward (23-8), a 54-25 winner over No. 7 Richmond-Burton in the first semifinal, for the regional championship at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The Indians last won a regional title in 2019.

“This big game was a surprise to me,” said Broughton, who knocked down a career-high seven 3s pointers and shot 10-of-20 from the field. “I don’t think I’ve ever done anything like that. I just felt really confident with my shot today.”

Broughton’s second half was even bigger than the first, as she made three 3s and poured in 11 points in the third quarter and posted two 3s and eight points in the fourth before coming out of the game with the outcome well in hand.

Marengo and G-K were tied 23-23 at halftime, while the Indians held a 28-27 lead with six minutes remaining in the quarter before they started to pull away.

Broughton hit back-to-back 3s to put Marengo up 34-28. The Indians went on to outscore the Cogs 9-2 over the final 4:12 of the third to take a 43-30 lead into the fourth.

Hanson said Broughton doesn’t just rely on her long range.

“She was in the flow of the offense all night, stepping right into her shot,” Hanson said. “If she saw daylight, she took it. ... She’s one of our better players at driving hard and getting in the paint, too. Having that midrange game, she doesn’t let the length of other teams bother her.”

Junior Macy Noe, returning from a shoulder injury, scored 10 points and had nine rebounds for Marengo. Junior Katie Hanson had eight points and two 3s, and senior Ari Rodriguez had six points. Junior Maggie Hanson added four assists.

Junior Ari Rich led the Cogs (16-16) with 12 points while making five of her first six shots, junior Presley Meyer chipped in eight points and two assists, and senior Madelynn Swanson added six points on two 3s.

Genoa-Kingston coach Doug Brewington stuck with his starting five all the way into the fourth quarter.

“We’ve been banged up all year, and I think we were out of gas, bottomline,” Brewington said. “We had a good game plan, the girls gave me everything they’ve got and they executed to perfection. Ultimately, it comes down to [Marengo] had better depth than we did, and that’s on me.”

Brewington felt Rich showed off her importance to the team Monday.

“She’s a versatile kid for us. She can play inside, play outside. She’s kind of the standard presence,” Brewington said. “Ari’s always the kid that’s always keeping things under control for us and always giving us that scoring option. We just got to build off her times. Sometimes we sat and watched and hoped she made a play. We didn’t make enough.”

Rich felt the Cogs’ offense has come a long way.

“I feel like our offense really started showing. More people started scoring at the end,” Rich said. “At the start of the year it was just a few of us scoring. Later on everybody was scoring and everybody was coming through when it mattered most. Our biggest win at Kaneland, everybody scored that game.”

In Richmond-Burton’s loss to to St. Edward in the night’s first semifinal, the Rockets were led by senior Kaylin Lotz was six points on two 3s. Dani Mazzola had five points and six rebounds, and Lilly Kwapniewski chipped in four points.

The Rockets finished 15-14 and with their first 10-plus win season since 2018.

“They came in, I’m sure, not determined to win any more than seven games like they did last year,” R-B first-year coach Maycee Ward said. “There wasn’t any buy-in, wasn’t any excitement about starting basketball. I think they came in and bought what I was telling them. ... They were eager to learn. I wish I had more time with the seniors. In all aspects, we got better, and that was my goal.”