Nansemond-Suffolk Academy senior guard Harper Birdsong and the other members of the Lady Saints’ senior class made the last home game of their high school careers a memorable one on Wednesday night.

No. 1 NSA handily defeated No. 8 St. Margaret’s School 59-29 in the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Division II state quarterfinals.

Inside the opening minutes of the game, the St. Margaret’s coach could be heard telling her players from the sideline, “We’ve got to know where 12 is.”

She was referring to Birdsong’s jersey number. Sometimes they did know where she was, sometimes they did not, but either way, it did not seem to matter much.

Birdsong scored five of the Lady Saints’ first seven points, then assisted the next basket to help give them an early 9-2 lead.

The score was 19-5 at the end of the first quarter, and Birdsong scored NSA’s first five points in the second quarter.

The Scotties finally reached double figures near the midway point of the second period, but Nansemond-Suffolk grew its lead to 20 points by halftime, 33-13.

Despite the big advantage, the Lady Saints were missing a lot of fast break layups and inside shots.

“We missed 13 shots in the first quarter,” NSA coach Kim Aston said. “We missed a lot of little easy chip shots around the rim in the second half, as well, and you can’t do that against good teams. So, we need to tighten that up a little bit. It felt like we could have had more of an advantage in the post than we did tonight. We didn’t get the ball in to Caroline (Hogg) as much as we could have.”

But when the Lady Saints did find their senior center in the paint, she usually scored, going 6-of-9 from the field.

Birdsong had been building to a major career milestone all night, and entering the second half, she was one field goal away from becoming the first Lady Saint to reach 2,000 career points.

From the corner of the court, she scored her team’s first points in the third quarter on a three-pointer to give herself 2,001, and the game was brought to a halt to recognize the accomplishment.

After the game, Birdsong said she knew she was close but did not know when it had happened.

“It was really cool,” she said. “Last home game, it was a good way to go out, definitely.”

Birdsong’s other accomplishments have put her name among the great Lady Saints from years past, like her coach, but the 2,000-point milestone belongs to her alone.

“I can talk some smack to Kim now,” she said good-naturedly. “I beat her scoring record, but I had an extra year in eighth grade or something, so she has that on me, but I think now I can really rub it in.”

Nansemond-Suffolk led 47-20 at the end of the third quarter, and Birdsong was subbed out for good about midway through the fourth.

She finished with a game-high 25 points to go with six rebounds, three steals, two assists and two blocks.

Hogg ended up with 12 points, five rebounds, five blocks and three assists.

NSA junior forward Kelly Hogan registered a double-double with 10 points and 13 rebounds, eight of which came on offense.

Lady Saints senior guard Anna Vastardis provided some aggressive play inside, and senior guard Madi Goldberg hit a basket at the buzzer to conclude her final home game, drawing a loud cheer from the crowd.

Nansemond-Suffolk (23-3) will next face Norfolk Christian School in the state semifinals. Including two regular season games and a confrontation in the conference tournament semifinals, this will be the fourth time the two teams have met this season.

“We played them in the semifinals of the state tournament last year,” Aston said. “The only difference was that they beat us one time last year in the regular season. So this year, we’re 3-0 against them.”

She said playing the Lady Ambassadors a fourth time is difficult, “but in the same breath, it makes it a little bit easier because you know what to expect.”

The state semifinal is set for 3 p.m. on Friday at Richard Bland College in Petersburg.