By halftime, Vista Ridge’s Nikki Cardano-Hillary had seen enough.

It took Vista Ridge nearly six minutes to score its first points of the basketball game, after missing 10 consecutive shots.

Hays, the third-seeded team in the district, took advantage of a rare offensive funk from Cardano-Hillary to take a 35-26 lead at the break.

Then Vista Ridge unleashed Cardano-Hillary in the second half. She finished with a game-high 46 points – including 40 in the final three quarters – to...