Salina ? Tonganoxie High’s girls basketball squad played its first state-tournament game since 1998 on Thursday night, but the Chieftains acted like it was old hat.

Tonganoxie recovered from a slow first quarter to dominate Hoyt Royal Valley, 55-29, in the first round of the Class 4A state tourney at the Bicentennial Center.

Tonganoxie's Addie Heim, right, tries to steal the ball from Royal Valley's Tarissa Danielson. The Chieftains won, 55-29, Thursday in the first round of the Class 4A state tournament in Salina.

Tongie’s defense dominated, forcing 18 turnovers as the Panthers shot just 22 percent from the field. Best of all, Chieftains coach Randy Kraft said, was Tongie’s ability to shut down the Panthers’ main scoring threat, Misty Stone, who had just two points on 1-of-9 shooting.

“(Stone) is a tough kid inside, and when we did a lot better job of sealing her and keeping her from getting touches on the ball, it was big,” Kraft said. “We went in knowing she was tough.”

Tonganoxie’s tight man-to-man defense was made all the more effective because the Chieftains didn’t commit many fouls, forcing Royal Valley to take bad shots.

“I told them going in, particularly the way the third game was called real touchy — and ours started out that way — ‘We’ve got to move our feet and keep the hands off. If we go for traps, it doesn’t mean reaching for the ball,'” Kraft said. “We did a pretty good job of that.”

Kraft said his team could have played better offensively, blaming poor ball movement as the cause of 14 Tongie turnovers.

6Sports video: Tonganoxie advances to 4A Photo Gallery: Tonganoxie vs. Royal Valley

But Tongie saw points from all but two of its players.

Addie Heim and Heather Deaver each scored in double digits, with Heim leading the way with 15.

Tonganoxie's Ali Pistora scoops up a loose ball in Thursday's 4A state tournament game in Salina.

Heim picked up two fouls in the opening minutes, and both teams struggled to do much of anything early.

But Tongie broke a 5-all deadlock and went on a seven-point run to close out the first quarter thanks to a couple of easy layups from Deaver.

While Tonganoxie gradually picked up its offense, Royal Valley’s got worse. The Panthers managed only a pair of field goals in the second quarter and went a dismal 4-for-22 in the first half.

Tonganoxie went on 13-4 run to open the third quarter, extinguishing Royal Valley’s hopes.

The Chieftains will face No. 7-seeded Buhler at 6 tonight. Buhler beat No. 2-seeded Iola, 70-46, Thursday.