Burke, VA - If it were a boxing match, the referee would have stopped it in the first round.

In Saturday's Group AAA boys quarterfinal at Lake Braddock, Hayfield put forth a purely dominant first-quarter performance against Thomas Dale and the Knights never recovered. The Northern Region champion Hawks (26-2) led 20-3 after one quarter and advanced to the state semifinals with a 64-49 win over Thomas Dale.

Hayfield will face Cave Spring (16-10), the Northwest Region champs, at Vines Center in Lynchburg this Thursday at 5 p.m.

Thomas Dale (20-8), the Central Region runner-up, was engulfed by Hayfield's defense and had 10 turnovers before scoring a field goal. The Knights' highly-touted two-man attack - juniors Brad Byerson and Derius Swinton - were clearly outplayed by their Hayfield counterparts, James Steward and Chris Kardelis.

Swinton entered Saturday averaging a team-high 18.3 points per game. But Kardelis was up to the defensive challenge and held the Thomas Dale guard to four first-half points. Swinton shot 1-for-6 from the floor and had five turnovers before halftime.

``I was talking to [Swinton] a lot," Kardelis said. ``He started whining and missing his shots and I knew the game was over after that."

On the other hand, Kardelis made all three of his field goal attempts and shot 4-for-5 from the free throw line to score a team-high 10 first-half points - without committing a turnover.

``[Kardelis] did an absolutely great job defensively," Hawks coach Charlie Thompson said. ``Chris has been our man on defense against their main man all year long. Whoever we play Thursday, their main man, Chris will be on him."

Byerson and Steward both picked up two early fouls and spent much of the second quarter on their respective benches.

For Hayfield, junior guards Michael Lee and A.J. Fitzgerald picked up the slack offensively. They combined to shoot 4-for-7 from behind the three-point line in the first half.

Lee's three-pointer with two seconds left in the first quarter gave Hayfield a 20-3 lead and Fitzgerald's three with less than a second remaining in the second quarter sent Hayfield into intermission up, 35-17.

Thomas Dale threatened briefly in the third quarter and ended the period on an 8-3 run. Byerson (team-high 19 points) opened the fourth quarter with a bucket and cut Hayfield's lead to 46-37, the first time Thomas Dale was within single digits since the 3:48 mark of the first quarter.

But Hayfield answered with a game-sealing 10-0 run over the ensuing 2:04, starting with Fitzgerald's 12-footer and highlighted by three-pointers from Steward and Kardelis.

``Once the third quarter ended, coach told us we can't take a quarter off, we're in the state tournament now, it's big time," Kardelis said. ``Then A.J. hit that jumper and we knew right then and there, it was on."

Steward finished with a team-high 19 points on 7-for-13 shooting. Kardelis had 17 points and team-highs of five rebounds and four steals. Fitzgerald and Lee chipped in with 13 and 10 points, respectively.

Hayfield has shown it is capable of playing with the best teams in the state. But the Hawks head to Lynchburg with the goal of removing the stigma associated with Northern Region basketball that has grown since 1981 - the last year a team from this region won a state title.

``Nobody around the state gives us respect, nobody," Kardelis said. ``They just think we're a regular Northern Region team. They don't understand there are ballers up here, too."