Florence junior Kamdan Johnson (3) drives to the basket as Suring’s Emma Kristof (52) tries to stop her momentum on Tuesday at Florence High School. (Sean Chase/Daily News photo)

FLORENCE, Wis. — Entering as the No. 4 seed, the Florence girls varsity basketball team kicked off the opening round of the WIAA Division 5 playoffs against No. 13-ranked Suring on Tuesday at Florence High School.

The Ladycats (18-7, 7-3) overwhelmed the Eagles (5-20, 3-13) with nine 3-point shots to pick up a 59-41 win and advance to the second round of the WIAA Division 5 girls basketball tournament.

“Each game is like its own mini-season, a battle within itself,” Florence head coach Kris Johnson said. “Officiating can vary, we can see groups that let the girls play and be physical. We can see groups, like tonight, that really want to gain control of the game and both teams are in the double bonus with five, six, seven minutes left in the half.

“It took a bit for our girls to adjust and it’s a grind, but at the end of the day, the girls stuck with it and got the job done when they needed to. We had four girls in double-digits.”

Bella Millan, Kamdan Johnson, CeCe Mills and Bryn Sullivan all scored 10-or-more points against Suring.

Florence will face off with No. 12-ranked Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran/Providence Academy (4-17, 3-13), who upset No. 5-ranked Gresham in the opening round, on Friday in Florence, Wis. at 7 p.m.

“Looking forward to the challenge and I’m glad that we can keep this thing going for our seniors and for our group, it’s a fun group this year,” Coach Johnson said.

Mills opened the scoring in the first half with a quick layup and the Ladycats were off-and-running.

Millan and Mills added a 3-pointer each and Florence took a 15-5 lead as the Eagles took a timeout seven minutes into the opening frame.

Bunny Cramer attempted to stop the Ladycats’ run with a left wing 3-pointer, but Mills responded with a left corner 3-pointer on the next possession to keep the lead at 10 points.

Florence pushed its lead to 13 shortly after Mills’ three when Bryn Sullivan buried a 3-pointer. She had four in the game.

“That’s huge,” Coach Johnson said of Sullivan’s performance. “Bella and Kamdan will draw a little more attention than others on offense and when you have players like Bryn, or CeCe Mills, or Naomi Millan, on the weak side that are confident and their feet are set and they’re ready to score it. … In a game like that, shots like that and players doing those things can really help you out as a team and a coach.”

The Ladycats went 3 for 11 from the charity stripe down the stretch of the first half, but they kept a 27-16 lead at the break.

Millan kicked off the scoring in the second half and then Sullivan began to find her range. She drilled three 3-pointers in 3 ½ minutes of play to give Florence a 45-23 lead.

The Eagles ended up finding their offensive footing late in the second half, but it wasn’t enough to slow the Ladycats and they rolled into the second round of the playoffs after a 59-39 victory.

Looking to keep its run going, Coach Johnson wants to see Florence maintain its energy ahead of Friday’s matchup.

“The energy from start to finish,” Coach Johnson said. “We want to be the ones that are attacking and not on our heels most of the night. Now, those freshmen have a playoff game under their belt. So there shouldn’t be any big eyes right out of the gate. Hopefully, we can settle in and set the tone early.”

Bella Millan led all scorers with 18 points.

The Ladycats also received contributions from Johnson (15 points), Vicki Peterson (3 points), Naomi Millan (1 point), Mills (10 points) and Sullivan (12 points).