Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Ty Mericle of St. Edmond lines up a three-pointer during a Class 1A state quarterfinal game on Tuesday at the Casey’s Center in Des Moines.

DES MOINES — The St. Edmond boys are back in the Class 1A state tournament semifinals after also reaching the final four a season ago.

The top-ranked and No. 1 seeded Gaels take on Burlington Notre Dame here Thursday at 2 p.m. from the Casey’s Center. In the other semifinal, MMCRU meets Bellevue Marquette.

St. Edmond (24-2 overall) advanced through the quarterfinals on Tuesday with a commanding 60-44 victory over Woodbine. After sitting square at 12-all following the first, the Gaels outscored the Tigers in the second, 19-6.

Hunter Horn, who suffered a nasty ankle injury early in the contest, had the first six SEHS points of the contest. Despite being far from 100 percent, the all-stater still finished with 17 to go along with nine rebounds and two blocks.

Carson Bargfrede scored 14, with nine of them coming in the third as St. Edmond stretched its lead to 17. Bargfrede also grabbed six rebounds, as Jakob Koopman finished with 11 points, six rebounds and two steals.

Jack McElroy had an effective game at point, scoring six points with five rebounds, four assists and just one turnover in 31 minutes. Grant Galles chipped in eight points and Ty Mericle buried a 3-pointer off the bench.

St. Edmond head coach Adolph Kochendorfer is in his final season leading the program. The Gaels are at state for the 11th time under Kochendorfer, who helped the program win its only state title to date in 2000 to go along with four other runner-up finishes.

This is just the third time under Kochendorfer the Gaels have reached back-to-back semifinals, joining the 1999 and ’00 squads along with 2008 and ’09.

No. 4 seed Burlington Notre Dame (25-2) earned its spot in the semifinals with a 68-62 victory over Bellevue. Shay Stephens, a Western Illinois commit, scored 26 points with eight rebounds, four assists and three steals. Griffin Kies added 12 points and five rebounds.

The Nikes had a strong second period to take control, outscoring Bellevue by a 19-7 count. The Comets put up 27 points in the third to tighten the contest, before Burlington Notre Dame pulled away in the fourth.

Winners of the Southeast Iowa Super Conference’s South Division, Burlington Notre Dame lost by two points to Keokuk and by four to Pella Christian last month. They have won five in a row after starting the season 19-0.

MMCRU (27-1) knocked off Boyden-Hull in the quarterfinals, as four players reached double figures. Kamden Bork and Eli Schlenger each had 14, with Wyatt Alesch and Josh Peterson scoring 11.

The Royals were state champs in Class A on the football field this past fall, with several of those players also being part of the rotation on the basketball court.

Bellevue Marquette (25-2), a runner-up to Madrid last winter, bested Bishop Garrigan in a thriller to conclude games on Tuesday, 58-55. Louis Gonner had 17 points, Justin Severson scored 11 with 15 rebounds and Tate Kueter added 11 points off the bench.

The championship game between winners of the semifinals takes place Friday at 5 p.m.