When Super-State point guard KK Houser went to the bench with her fourth foul, all Lincoln Southeast girls basketball coach John Larsen had to do Friday morning at the Devaney Center was put another Division I college-level point guard in her place.

North Carolina State recruit Marissa Kastanek swung around from forward to point to spark a 12-1 Knights run to end the third quarter which powered the defending state champions to a 71-58 semifinal victory against fourth-ranked Millard West in the Class A state tournament.

“We never want KK to go out, but that’s (point guard) my position, that’s what I’ve trained to play these last eight years. I’m really not a post,” said the 5-foot-9 Kastanek, who had eight points in the decisive run and finished with a game-high 25. She was 6 of 9 from three-point territory as the Knights tied their own state record with 15 treys for the game in 31 attempts.

“We couldn’t let that (Houser on the bench) set us back,” Kastanek added. “We had to work hard and make sure the lead was larger when she came back than it was when she went out.”

The win puts Southeast (26-0 and winners of 36 straight) in position for its 10th title in the 1:30 p.m. championship game Saturday. This is Southeast’s 14th championship game appearance, all of them under Larsen.

Houser and Kastanek both made their presence felt in the first half. Houser had 16 of her 20 points before intermission and Kastanek had 13 first-half points to lead the Knights to a 41-29 halftime lead.

But for the first 12 minutes, the Wildcats (19-5) went toe-to-toe with Southeast, trailing just 27-26 at the 3:27 mark. Millard West junior forward Amanda Lutmer netted 16 of her team-high 19 points during that span.

Houser hit a pair of three-pointers (Southeast had 10 treys in the first half) and converted a three-point play during the Knights’ 14-3 spurt to end the half which opened up the 12-point margin.

Houser, however, picked up her third foul with 13 seconds left in the half and her fourth 56 seconds into the third quarter.

“I thought Larsen would be mad, but he just laughed and said ‘you’ll have to sit next to me for a while,”’ said Houser, who exploded for 33 points in Southeast’s opening-round win over Omaha Westside. “I was frustrated at first, but we played so well after I went out, I was enjoying myself on the bench cheering them on.”

Millard West trimmed the Knights’ lead to 44-38 before the decisive 12-1 sequence. Kastanek hit a pair of threes during that time, including a 22-footer as the period ended to give Southeast a 56-39 lead.

Six-foot junior Haley Lake also contributed, scoring 10 of her 13 points in the second half.