After cruising to a 75-29 victory over Ware in a MIAA Div. 5 state quarterfinal contest, Pioneer seniors Brayden Thayer, Alex McClelland and Kurt Redeker were asked if they had a preference of playing fourth-seeded Drury or fifth-seeded Boston English in the state semifinals.

All three quickly said they didn’t.

Why would they? With an unbeaten 24-0 record, an average margin of victory of 42.6 points during its three state tournament games, and not having had a game decided by less than 10 points since the turn of the New Year, there’s no reason the top-seeded Panthers shouldn’t feel confident no matter what opponent they take on.

Two wins away from capturing its first state title since 1997, Pioneer will take on No. 4 Drury in its state semifinal game on Tuesday, with the game scheduled for 7 p.m. at West Springfield High School.

“We’re excited,” Thayer said. “This has been a goal of ours since our season ended last year. This is the group to do it, that’s for sure. We’ll take it one day at a time. I believe in the guys we have.”

Another chapter to the storied Pioneer-Drury rivalry will be written on Tuesday.

The two Hampshire League South foes have a history of meeting in the postseason, including last year in the Div. 5 quarterfinals, a game where the Panthers came out on top, 54-44.

Pioneer dominated the two regular season contests against the Blue Devils this year. The first meeting, which took place on Jan. 9 at Messer Gymnasium, saw the Panthers run away with a 76-45 victory. When the two teams met again on Feb. 4 in North Adams, Pioneer picked up a 53-36 victory.

The Panthers understand how little those two regular season meetings mean in March. After all, Drury beat Pioneer in both regular season games last winter only to see the Panthers come out ahead in the postseason meeting.

“Every game is different,” Pioneer coach Scott Thayer said after the win over Ware. “We’ve played them so much. You could look at it that we beat them twice and now it’s our turn, but it’s just not the case. Every game is its own entity. We can’t look at it that way.”

Sophomore Jorge Bond is the Blue Devils’ go-to scorer, with the guard a threat to light it up from deep. He had 14 points in the first game against the Panthers and 15 in the second game. Pioneer held Drury big man Sam Mooreman to under 10 points in both games.

Connor Hinkell is another scoring threat the Panthers will have to be aware of.

Drury (18-6) reached the finals of the Western Mass. Class C tournament, holding a late lead over Granby before the Rams stormed back to win the championship in overtime. Earning the No. 4 seed in the state tournament, Drury beat 36th-seeded Boston Prep Charter 54-41 and knocked off 13th-seeded Hoosac, 50-47, in the Round of 16. 

The Blue Devils then earned a thrilling 57-56 triumph over Boston English to punch a ticket to the semifinals. 

Pioneer has been waiting to get back to the state semis after falling to New Mission last season in its Final Four contest. After that loss, the Panthers made sure to put in the extra work in the offseason, knowing what it would take to achieve their ultimate goal of a state championship. 

“We had a great team last year but the hunger and mindset wasn’t completely there,” Brayden Thayer said. “I talked to these guys this summer that we had to come in with a different mindset if we want to achieve the goals we have. So far it’s been great but we still have more work to do.” 

It sure helps when you have the type of talent returning that Pioneer has. 

Thayer scored his 1,000th point as a junior while Redeker will join him on the banner after scoring his 1,000th point during the Panthers’ Western Mass. Class D championship win over Duggan last month.

McClelland is another high level scorer that contributes in every aspect of the game, Jackson Glazier is a sophomore who seems to get better each time out there while seniors Ben Werner and Will Glazier are players who round out the rotation, both capable of stretching the floor from deep. 

With a large group of seniors that have been playing together since they were in elementary school, it makes sense why the Panthers always look in sync together on the court. 

“We know each of our steps,” Redeker said. “We don’t have to think about it. If one of them is running down the wing, we know to hit him.” 

The drive to get there has been there since the beginning of the season. Now, Pioneer just has to go out there and play its game as it looks to close out an unbeaten season with a state title. 

“It was the first practice that started it for us,” McClelland said. “We all just wanted to win it. It’s our senior year and we wanted to come out and do it. We have that extra year playing together. We know each other better, we know how each other play and we fit well together.” 

The winner of Tuesday’s semifinal contest will take on the winner of No. 2 Hopedale and No. 11 Westport in the finals, scheduled for this weekend at Tsongas Center in Lowell.