GOLDEN – Air Academy coach Bob Wingett took a couple of chews of his gum, folded his arms and stayed calm.

He knew his team was going to be fine.

Down by as many as 12 in the first half, the Kadets rallied in the second to beat the 4A five-time defending champion Broomfield 64-46.

Regional top-seed Air Academy will take on Pueblo West on Wednesday in the semifinals at the Coors Events Center in Boulder.

SEE A PHOTO GALLERY OF THE GAME

“When I hear college or NBA coaches say what I’m going to say to you, I think they are full of crap. … We weren’t nervous,” said Wingett whose team lost to the Eagles in the semifinals last year. “We didn’t show them what Kadet basketball was (in the first half).”

They did in the second.

Air Academy outscored Broomfield 36-10 in the final 16 minutes as Brittany Hernandez scored 14 of her game-high 25 points.

“We’ve been down before,” Hernandez said. “We are seniors and we knew we had to come out and play Kadet basketball and play as a team.”

The “been there, done that” mantra goes back to December when Air Academy played a stretch of games Wingett likes to call “Murderer’s Row.”

The Kadets went 2-2 in games against 5A teams that reside in the 5A quarterfinals. They beat ThunderRidge and Grandview and they lost to Highlands Ranch and Regis.

At the start Saturday, second-seeded Broomfield knew its way around the nets like captains of a shrimp boat. Cherokee Rohrbaugh’s step-back swish gave the Eagles their fifth-consecutive 3 and a 21-9 lead as time expired in quarter one.

In the following frame, Air Academy pulled within five before Broomfield regained a 12-point lead, 34-22, with ticks under 3 minutes remaining.

Wingett remained poised as Broomfield’s Mike Croell was the one tap-dancing in his own frustrations.

“If you get excited with kids it doesn’t do much good,” said Wingett about his tranquil style of coaching.

The Kadets broke into the Eagles’ lead with two fast-break layups in the final minute. First, Tori Reifschneider stole the ball at half court and put in two of her 11 points. Then, Kauna Kama was found tumbleweed-lonely under the basket to pull Air Academy within eight as time expired.

The Kadets trailed 36-28.

In the third, Hernandez scored nine of the quarter’s first 11 points as Air Academy dominated the frame 18-4.

The fourth wasn’t much prettier for the Eagles and their six points as the Kadets got revenge from last year.

“We were glad to get payback,” said Hernandez who lost to this team as a junior, 65-42. “It feels great.”