Foley came out on fire against Baldwin County rival Daphne in the Class 7A Central girls regional final.

The Lions jumped out to a 17-4 first-quarter lead, led 38-12 at the half and rolled to a 68-46 victory at Bill Harris Arena in Birmingham.

RELATED: Wednesday’s regional scores, highlights

“We were locked in when we got here. We got to stay out of our heads,” said sophomore guard Ashauntee Hobbs. “We told ourselves we need to stay locked in. We’ve done this before, so let’s handle business.”

Defensively Foley held Daphne to 4-of-16 shooting in that critical first half. Daphne didn’t help itself by shooting 37.5 percent from the free throw line.

Daphne was able to slice into Foley’s lead a bit in the third quarter as junior La’Merrica Johnson scored 10 of her team-high 19 points during a brief Trojan run.

“We started off rocky. We got to get back in our groove,” Foley sophomore guard Keiyonla Knight said.

Star of the Game: Knight scored a game-high 20 points. She added eight rebounds, four assists and a block.

Stat sheet: Foley — senior guard Jestiny Dixon scored 18 points to go with nine rebounds and three steals. Hobbs scored 12 points and registered four assists, two rebounds and one steal for Foley. Daphne — Johnson scored a team-high 19 points, including 17 points in the second half. She also recorded three steals and seven rebounds against Foley.

By the numbers: Foley shot 62.8 percent from the field and 57.1 percent from behind the arc. Daphne shot 39 percent from the floor and 15.4 percent from deep in this game.

They said it: “She (Emily Flanigan) is a very motivational person,” Dixon said of her coach. “When we get in our feelings and have an attitude or get down on ourselves, she’s always there to pick us up. She’s the first person in our faces telling us to let it go or get it back.”

Next up: Foley will now play Sparkman at Legacy Arena at noon on Thursday in the Class 7A state semifinals.