Kaneeshia Brown scored 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds in the Region 4-8A quarterfinals to lead South Miami (24-4) to a 55-47 win at Coral Reef on Thursday night.

Brown benefited from the sharp game management of point guard Tamarra Graham, who tallied 10 points and eight assists. Graham exuded a calming influence in a sloppy game that featured more turnovers than field-goal attempts.

The Cobras were slow out of the gate, allowing multiple offensive rebounds and trailing 15-10 after the first quarter. But Brown and Graham spurred a 17-3 run in the second quarter, and Simone King snuck out for three easy transition baskets to start the third.

“At halftime we made a plan to change the momentum. We went with two bigs — one to rebound and another to just box out,” South Miami coach Unethia Fox said.

The switch helped to close the gap on the boards, and the Cobras pounded the ball inside in the second half.

Ariana Arabitg had 13 points, 12 rebounds, eight assists and five blocks, leading the Barracudas (20-5) along with Janesha Hollin (20 points) in a game effort to keep their season alive.

South Miami will next face a powerful Lourdes team that has defeated the Cobras in three consecutive playoff matchups.

•  Region 4-8A quarterfinal — Miami High 57, American 31: Outrebounding American 52-22 and holding the Patriots to single-digit scoring in every quarter, the Miami High girls’ basketball team prevailed at home.

Miami High (22-5) advances to face Krop, the team that has eliminated the Stingarees in the past two postseasons, in the regional semifinals Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Beatrice Mompremier had a double-double of 14 points and 16 rebounds. At one point in the fourth quarter the 6-4 sophomore center, who also blocked six shots, went on a 6-0 run by herself with three consecutive put-back tips-ins.

“Beatrice is a load in the middle,” Miami High coach Sam Baumgarten said. “They don’t have a lot of bigs, and since they don’t have anyone to really match up with her, she’s going up and she’s getting the boards.”

Tynesha Johnson scored 10 points for the Stings, and Amanda Mendoza added nine, all on three-pointers.

Miami High’s press defense frustrated American, which ended its season with a record of 19-7. The Patriots’ leading scorer throughout the season, D’Ajahnae Smith, scored only three points, and second-leading scorer Shanaya Jones finished with six.

The start of Thursday’s game was delayed 45 minutes because the bus driver for American was late in picking up the team from its Hialeah campus.

DAVID FURONES

MH: Mendoza 9, Mompremier 14, Kimbrough 6, Johnson 10, Pierre 2, Guerrero 2, Smith 8, Dukes 1, Jackson 2, Reid 3. AM: Bradshaw 9, Williams 3, Smith 3, David 6, Arellano 2, Jones 6, Gibson 2. Halftime: MH 27-15. Three-pointers: Mendoza 3, Johnson, Bradshaw 2, David 2. Rebounds: Mompremier 16. Assists: Kimbrough 4. Steals: Smith 3. Blocks: Mompremier 6.

Signings

• Columbus running back Lorenzo Woodley signed with the University of Massachusetts. Woodley ran for 1,086 yards and a county-best 24 touchdowns, 10 of them in the playoffs.

Woodley is the No. 9 overall prospect in Miami-Dade County in the 2013 class and was originally being recruited by several FBS schools including USF, Cincinnati, N.C. State and Purdue. But Woodley had to restart the recruiting process with all four of those schools after recent coaching changes at each institution.