District championship hero Quinn Kusgen --- author of the buzzer-beating half court miracle --- hit four 3-pointers in the first half, three in the first quarter, and scored 16 of his 27 points before the break sparking the Blair Oaks Falcons to a 57-50 win over the Fair Grove Eagles in the Class 3 quarterfinals Saturday night.

Arc madness.

The sizzling shooting display sends the Falcons to the Final Four for the first time in 19 years. To put it another way, before any of these players were born. It's the third trip to the semifinals in program history --- the Falcons finished second in 2000, before winning the state championship in 2001.

The top-ranked Falcons (28-2) will next clash with second-ranked Cardinal Ritter (23-6) at 8;10 p.m. Friday at JQH Arena in Springfield, for the right to play for the state championship.

Blair Oaks beat unranked Fair Grove (22-8) in dominating fashion from start to ... well, almost finish. But don't let the final score fool you, this outcome was never in doubt.

Kusgen, who's only a sophomore, did the damage early in the wire-to-wire win. The Falcons built a 10-2 lead in the opening 5 1/2 minutes and held a 13-5 edge after one.

And while foul trouble hampered Kusgen and sophomore Luke Northweather in the second quarter, it didn't matter. Eric Northweather, the senior part of the 6-9 Twin Towers, stepped out and hit two 3-balls in the second, and Dylan Hair hit one at the first-half buzzer as the Falcons built a 32-12 lead at the break.

The margin was 41-18 entering the fourth quarter and despite a valiant effort by the Eagles, who outscored the Falcons --- who received 15 points from the "elder" Northweather --- 32-16 in the fourth, the margin was never less than seven.

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In a Class 2 boys quarterfinal at Moberly, the Eugene Eagles let a 22-point lead slip away in a tough 71-65 loss to Milan. The loss denied the Eagles (20-7) the program's first trip to the Final Four since 1993.

Back in Bolivar, No. 6 Southern Boone (24-5) girls threw a scare into No. 2 Stafford (28-3), as the game was knotted at 20-20 at the half. But the Lady Indians --- who are the four-time defending state champions --- outscored the Lady Eagles 36-17 after the break to notch a 56-37 win.

In Saturday's Class 2 quarterfinal at Moberly, Tipton (25-5) knocked off Paris 57-41 to advance to the Final Four for the first time in program history. The unranked Lady Cardinals will meet No. 5 Blue Eye (27-4) at 4:30 p.m. Friday at Hammons Student Center in Springfield.

This is also Blue Eye's first trip to the Final Four.