For Sand Creek freshmen Oliana Squires and Liah Davis, the advice must have worked.

“We talked to them about the playoffs the whole week,” Scorpions junior guard Mikayla Reese said. “Most of all, we wanted them to be pumped up but not too nervous.”

If they were, Squires and Davis didn’t act it. The duo paced No. 2 Sand Creek’s fast start Friday, accounting for all 16 points in the first quarter. By the time it was over, Squires had 22 and Davis came off the bench to add 12 with eight rebounds, leading the Scorpions to a 65-49 victory over No. 7 Erie in a 4A second-round playoff game.

“It helped to have others around me with that experience,” Davis said. “It feels pretty good now that I’ve had the experience myself. I think I’ll be a lot better in the next one.”

Sand Creek (20-4) will host Sierra (18-7) in the round of 16 at 3 p.m. Saturday.

Squires’ 3-pointer from the right corner with 1:34 left in the first quarter gave the Scorpions the lead for good at 9-7 and started a 24-0 run.

At 32-9, the game had all the looks of a laugher. However, Erie (14-11) gradually found its mark, trimming the deficit to 34-20 by halftime and surged even closer through the third quarter.

When Piper Zeier connected on two free throws with 42.5 seconds left in the third quarter, the Tigers had nearly clawed all the way back, trailing just 45-38 heading into the game’s final eight minutes.

“We started to find our groove,” said Tigers senior guard Amanda Ochoa, who scored a team-high 18 points. “At the beginning, we were a little nervous. I just wanted to give it all I had, because I knew it might be my last game. We don’t give up.”

Serena Gudino added 12 points for Erie, while Zeier scored 10 points and pulled down 14 rebounds.

Sand Creek recharged in the fourth quarter, putting up a game-high 20 points as it found a way to snuff out the rally attempt.

“I’m definitely going to give them credit,” Reese said. “I don’t think we took our foot off the pedal, but when they went on their run, it took longer for us to get it back. We always start out intense, but when it got close, we knew we had to pick it up again.”

And that meant an extra dose from the two newbies. Davis’ three-point play and layup on the next possession made it a 56-40 cushion with 3:50 left. Squires ended it with a pair of layups in the final minute as the Scorpions won for the 16th time in 17 games.