GOFFSTOWN, N.H. — The buzzer signaling the end of the third quarter had sounded, but the referee’s whistle brought both teams back to the court rather than to their respective benches.

The Mascoma High boys basketball team already held a comfortable lead over St. Thomas Aquinas in the NHIAA Division III semifinals, and with a foul under the basket on the Saints putting one second back on the clock, the Royals were given a chance to extend that lead even further.

The inbound pass bounced off the head of a St. Thomas player and into the hands of Mascoma star senior guard Zach Thompson, who somehow got a shot off before the horn went off for real. Even more miraculously, the ball found its way through the net, giving Thompson 22 points and the Royals a 21-point lead.

It was just that kind of night for Mascoma, which led by 14 after a quarter and by 24 at halftime, making a late Saints surge nothing more than window dressing in a 62-49 victory that punched the Royals’ ticket to their first state title game in 34 years.

“I did not expect that. I couldn’t have dreamed it up any better,” Mascoma coach Silas Ayres said. “That was a thing of beauty. I’m glad I decided to go with some pressure in the first half.”

The No. 3 seed Royals (17-3) came out in a 2-2-1 zone defense with a three-quarters court press, and early on second-seeded St. Thomas (17-2) struggled to even bring the ball across half court. Thompson, when he wasn’t scoring, drew extra defenders to him and found open teammates, especially junior forward Tyler-Jay Mardin, who had a season-high 15 points.

Mardin opened the scoring with a layup on a nice feed from Thompson, then cut to the basket to bring an inbound pass from junior guard Aidan Smith for another easy two. He later canned an open 3-pointer off an offensive rebound, then converted another dump-down pass from Thompson to give him nine points in the first quarter.

“It’s the most confident ball we’ve all played this year,” Mardin said. “We just needed to play confident, and we did. We need to turn the ball over a little less, but we’ll work on that.”

Thompson’s ability to spread the ball around opened up scoring opportunities for him as well, and he knocked down five 3-pointers in a 23-point performance, matching his jersey number. Smith added nine points, and sophomore wing Tanner Moulton chipped in with seven.

The Saints narrowed the gap late as the Royals stayed aggressive rather than being content to run clock, but the lead stayed in double digits the entire way.

“People don’t realize how important the second and third units of a good team are, because they’re the scout team in practice,” Thompson said. “We drew up a bunch of their plays, and they ran it really well. That’s what helped us defend a bunch of their stuff today.”

Mascoma’s final test will be its toughest yet — the Royals will face undefeated, three-time defending champion and top-seeded Gilford in Saturday night’s championship game at Keene State College. The Golden Eagles defeated No. 4 seed Hopkinton, 62-42, in the other semifinal.

The two teams did not play each other in the regular season, but many of Mascoma’s players were also on the boys soccer team this past fall that, also as the No. 3 seed, reached the program’s first-ever title game before falling to an undefeated Gilford squad. On the hardwood, the Royals’ only three prior finals appearances came consecutively from 1987-89, and in the last of those, they defeated the Golden Eagles to win their second state championship.

“That’s going to be a stout test,” Ayres said. “It’s going to be a great game. Gilford travels well; we travel well. It’s going to be loud and raucous.”

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

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