Anayya Davis got it started. Claire O’Brien made sure it kept going.

Davis and O’Brien scored seven points apiece during a second-quarter surge that gave Ford a big lead, and the Falcons went on to defeat Dakota 74-53 in a Division 1 regional basketball semifinal at Lakeview on Monday night.

Davis, a senior who has signed with Grand Valley State, finished with a game-high 29 points as Ford (23-2) tied the school record for victories in a season and advanced to meet Cousino in the regional final at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

“I don’t want it to be over,” Davis said. “That goes for all of the girls on the team. We don’t want it to end. We have a lot of seniors.”

Against Cousino, Ford will try to win a regional championship for the first time since 1984.

“We know that once it’s over, it’s over,” Davis said. “We don’t want to have any regrets.”

O’Brien had 16 points and Tyra Wright 12 as the Falcons defeated Macomb Area Conference Red Division rival Dakota for the third time this season.

The Cougars led 16-13 after one quarter, but Davis started the second quarter with a 3-pointer and O’Brien scored the last seven points of what would be a 19-2 run that gave the Falcons a 32-18 lead with 2:09 left before halftime.

“We picked up the pressure,” Ford coach Matt Joseph said. “We went from our man-to-man defense to a zone press. I thought we did a good job with it, and it gave them some problems.

“Once this team gets some energy and some steals, it’s contagious. Everybody on the court did a fantastic job getting into passing lanes. Dakota has improved a lot during the season. We knew it would be a battle.”

Ford led 36-24 at halftime and went ahead by 17 points, 45-28, when Davis scored off a spin move in the lane midway through the third quarter.

Dakota got two 3-pointers from Meadow Cameron during a 7-0 run that cut the Falcons’ lead to 10, but Wright and Davis made a triple apiece as Ford exploded again, this time taking a 53-35 lead with 59.9 seconds left in the third.

Wright started the fourth quarter with a 3-pointer for a 61-39 lead, and then O’Brien made a basket and Davis scored on a scoop shot to keep the Falcons ahead by more than 20. Davis scored Ford’s final six points before leaving the game with 1:36 left.

Joseph said Ford’s team, which has seven seniors, has done well handling success.

“They’ve not taken anyone lightly,” Joseph said. “They know that, yeah, we’re a pretty good team, but anybody can beat us.”

That was how the Falcons approached the second quarter after falling behind, Davis said.

“We had to get into it mentally,” Davis said. “We had to push through. We had to remember that if we lose, the season is over. Nobody is ready for that.”

Junior Brooklyn Garavaglia scored 22 points and Cameron, who’s also a junior, added 18 for Dakota (11-15), which did not have a senior in its starting lineup.

“We played hard, we played physical, we gave them a run,” Dakota coach Olivia Savage said. “They were able to open things up, and Anayya got going and was able to have her way.

“I’m proud of my girls’ fight. They showed that fight all season.”

Dakota went through losing streaks of seven and four games during the regular season, but won three district games last week, including a final against Port Huron.

“It was a rebuilding year, but I think we surprised a lot of people,” Savage said.

Cousino, which plays in the MAC White Division, advanced with a 55-21 victory over Royal Oak.

Ford defeated the Patriots 55-40 in a MAC crossover game on Feb. 18.