ATHENS — The “Monk” television show would let viewers see who did the crime and then tell the story of how.

The Symmes Valley Lady Vikings showed fans early they were going to win, then went through the process as they routed the Southern Lady Tornadoes 55-18 Wednesday in the Division IV sectional tournament semifinals.

“We came out and caught fire early and really never looked back,” said Lady Vikings’ coach Lisa Bryant.

“We had a really good defensive game tonight. We mixed up our defenses. We also had a huge rebounding night.”

The Lady Vikings pulled down 50 rebounds. Brooke Skinner grabbed 11, Nikki Nance 9, Kayla Hayes 8 and Ada Humphrey 7.

Skinner also led Symmes Valley with 18 points. Jessie Morris added 9 points and Hayes 8.

Symmes Valley (9-10) will now play No. 2 seed Eastern Meigs at 2:45 p.m. Saturday in the sectional finals.

The Lady Vikings jumped out to an 11-2 lead in the first quarter as Skinner had 8 points.

The defense held Southern to just two more points in the second quarter and built a 27-4 halftime cushion.

The lead was 44-12 after three quarters with Skinner getting 6 more points and Nance drilling a 3-pointer.

“I thought Brooke Skinner had another solid performance with another double-double. Morris also had a pretty good night. All of our kids played well tonight, especially on the defensive end,” said Bryant.

Malenna Davis and Hayes had 4 points each in the fourth quarter as Bryant emptied her bench.