East Lyme — Now, as it hits its stride in the Class L state tournament, the East Lyme High School girls' basketball team knows one thing for certain: the ball is in good hands.

The starting guard tandem, both capable point guards with senior Meg Bauman and junior Sophie Dubreuil, combined for 36 points in No. 10 East Lyme's 53-34 victory Thursday over No. 26 Masuk in the Class L second round.

One (Dubreuil) is a first team all-Eastern Connecticut Conference Division I all-star. One (Bauman) is East Lyme's all-time leading scorer and a near 100 percent free throw shooter.

Both can break the press, see the floor, bring the fire when coach Sal Fiorillo calls a timeout and asks the team to pick up its intensity, as he did Thursday ... and either can post up or block a shot when need be, too.

"Their chemistry is tremendous," Fiorillo said. "They know where each other is going to be at all times."

"We've been playing together a long time," Bauman said. "At practice, we're always trying to find the open spots. ... Especially now in the state tournament, we just want to win every single game and keep advancing. Senior year, you've got to just leave it all on the court."

Dubreuil had 19 points and five rebounds and Bauman 17 points and nine rebounds for East Lyme (15-9), which will play at No. 2 Windsor in the quarterfinals Monday. Windsor defeated No. 15 Farmington on Thursday, 56-51.

Nadia Tarhini added nine points and nine rebounds for the Vikings.

Bauman started the first quarter with a flourish, scoring off the opening tap on a pass from Dubreuil, hitting a short jump shot off the dribble and swishing a pair of free throws to account for the Vikings' first six points before Dubreuil added a 3-pointer.

The Vikings led just 12-9 after one quarter, but outscored Masuk 20-9 in the second quarter, including a 7-0 run that featured a 3 by Dubreuil and a steal and a layup by Bauman as East Lyme took off on the way to a 32-18 lead at halftime.

The Vikings took a 41-27 lead after three quarters and Katie Durkee opened the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer.

Fiorillo credited the difficulty of East Lyme's regular season schedule in making Thursday night's game a somewhat easier task. The Vikings faced No. 2 New London three times this season, No. 5 Notre Dame-Fairfield, No. 6 East Haven and No. 8 Newtown for starters.

"Some people would say I'm a stupid guy," Fiorillo said. "But we challenged our kids. It pays its dividends."

East Lyme upset the No. 2 seed in last season's Class L tournament second round, Holy Cross, before falling to Wethersfield 71-69 in overtime in the quarterfinals.

v.fulkerson@theday.com