WEST CANAAN — Two and a half weeks after the Mascoma High boys basketball team put a 32-point beatdown on Stevens, what was Royals head coach Silas Ayres expecting when the teams met again in the NHIAA Division III quarterfinals on Friday night?

“Pretty much what happened,” Ayres said.

What happened was an even bigger blowout than that regular-season meeting, as No. 3 seed Mascoma hit 15 3-pointers in a 73-32 romp over the sixth-seeded Cardinals at Edward P. Kehoe Gym.

Ayres was not in a celebratory mood after the first quarter, when the Royals (16-3) led by just four points, had been careless with the basketball and had two starters in foul trouble. Senior guard and leading scorer Zach Thompson picked up his second foul late in the first period, and junior guard James Thomas was called for his second and third fouls moments later.

But once Mascoma settled into the rhythm of the game, the hosts quickly took control, putting up 29 points in the second quarter alone to take a 40-19 halftime lead.

“Nerves got the best of us to start,” sophomore wing Tanner Moulton said. “Once the game got going, we all settled down and started hitting some shots. It seemed like nobody could miss tonight.”

Moulton didn’t miss much, and neither did Thompson once he returned to start the second quarter. The Castleton University commit finished with 24 points, nailing his second of four 3-pointers on the first possession of the period. Moulton, who also knocked down four threes, had 22 points in all, and freshman guard Brayden Pierce hit three 3-pointers of his own in that second quarter to account for all nine of his points.

Pierce was good from the right corner on back-to-back possessions to extend the Royals’ lead to 11. That advantage quickly grew to 15 when Thompson made a fast-break layup, stole the ensuing inbound, made another layup and got fouled in the process.

The Royals kept their foot on the gas in the second half with five more 3-pointers in the third quarter and finally emptied the bench in the fourth, most of which was played with a running clock. Every seat in the gym was filled well before tipoff, and Mascoma brought in extra seating behind and to the sides of the scorers’ table in anticipation of the large crowd.

“When we have this many fans in our small gym, it’s hard not to pick up energy from them,” Thompson said.

Stevens was missing two senior guards, including leading scorer Hunter LaRocque, and was led by fellow senior guard Jai-Lique Ribeiro and junior forward Lucas Belisle with seven points each. The Cardinals (14-6) won nine of their last 11 regular-season games, then edged Somersworth in the first round for their first playoff victory in six years.

Coach Ray Curren’s team loses a strong senior class with guards LaRocque, Ribeiro, Devin Genes and Trystan Lane and forwards Ty Theriault, Dominic Puksta and AJ Rozzell.

“We gave everything we had,” Curren said. “When I first took the job, I patterned what we did after Mascoma because they were small and quick and just got in people’s faces. Hopefully we can keep mirroring them. I think they’re championship-worthy if they play like that. They could be cutting down the nets next weekend in Keene.”

The Royals will try to take the next step toward snipping those nets in Wednesday’s semifinal against No. 2 seed St. Thomas at Goffstown High. Mascoma did not play the Saints, whose only loss came to top-seeded Gilford, in the regular season.

Last year, the Royals reached their first final four since 2011 and fell by three in the semifinals to Kearsarge. A win Wednesday would put Mascoma in the finals for the first time since winning it all in 1989.

“It’s going to be a good one,” Ayres said. “They’re a very good team; they can shoot the basketball well. I think we match up pretty well size-wise, but it’s going to be a test. I expect a dogfight on Wednesday.”

Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.

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