It was as if the Stallions (19-3) had been waiting all season to try out their racing shoes as they cruised to a 91-62 win.

The score was tied 22-apiece after the first quarter, but DeSales kept up its offensive intensity, while Linden's fell off.

DeSales held a 47-34 margin at the half. Watching the DeSales boys basketball team race up and down the court in its Division II district semifinal win over Linden-McKinley at the Ohio Expo Center Coliseum Friday, one could consider the contest resembled a track meet more than a basketball game.

"We knew it would be important because we knew Linden would be tremendously motivated, especially early in the game," coach Blair Albright said. "We knew they'd throw a couple haymakers at us, especially in the first quarter.

"We knew we'd have to withstand that and we believed that was what was going to win the game for us. Our kids were good about that. They maintained their composure and were protecting themselves against that run. They were able to stay solid and play disciplined over the whole 32 minutes."

Seniors Elijah Allen and Alex Kellogg each had double-doubles by halftime, with Allen throwing in 24 points and pulling down 10 rebounds and Kellogg adding 10 and 10.

Allen had 31 points with just over three minutes to play in the third quarter, but opted not to take another shot the rest of the way. He ended up with 15 rebounds.

While the two seniors' astounding halftime numbers and Allen's overall performance were extremely impressive, perhaps the most exciting part of the game for those on the DeSales bench was the play of junior seven-footer Sean Hobbs.

Despite scoring 31 points, Allen's first comments after the game were about Hobbs.

"We really had fun out there," he said. "Sean Hobbs had a great game on defense and offense. He moved around and helped us out a lot. When people went to the rim he was playing big for us."

When asked if Hobbs had ever performed that well, Albright was quick to respond.

"What do you think?" he asked. "He was tremendous. I give him a ton of credit because he looked poor last week. We challenged him to come back and every time we've challenged him, he's responded.

"You have to give that kid a lot of credit. Growing up, always being tall, you're always in the spotlight. In our program, he's been criticized and analyzed more than any player we've had over the course of his three-year career, and for him to continue to get better and respond when things don't go well is a testament to his character and the fact he's really maturing."

Hobbs scored nine points, pulled down eight rebounds and swatted away eight shots, giving the Stallions an inside presence not common in the high school game.

"We told the kids (after the game), if (Hobbs) can continue to play like that we're going to be very difficult to beat," Albright said. "When he comes out and is aggressive, he takes the game to the opponent and he protects that rim, it allows for Alex and Elijah to get out on the break. When he's in the middle of that zone it just gives us more freedom."

Kellogg ended the contest with 24 points and 14 rebounds while freshman Nick Kellogg added 17.

The Stallions' quest to return to the state final four is to continue with a tough task in the district final against No. 1 seed Eastmoor (19-3) at the Coliseum Friday (9 p.m.).

"It's the game everybody's been waiting for," Albright said. "We have nothing but tremendous respect for what Eastmoor's accomplished this year.

"I think that if you're just a fan of basketball I'd love to be in the stands watching that game. We have to prepare and we have to execute. We have to put ourselves in a position to win, which certainly won't be easy. Eastmoor has plenty of weapons."

Making it even more of an anticipated matchup is the players on the two teams are familiar with one another.

"They're all my friends," Allen said. "We've been talking this up since the beginning of the season. It's going to be a great environment and we'll just go out there and play hard."

A win would give DeSales its second straight district championship and would set up a date with the winner of the Steubenville district's top bracket at the regional semifinal at Ohio University March 15 (6:15 p.m.).