NORTHFIELD — Good luck stopping the Pioneer boys basketball team. 

The Panthers blew past Prospect Hill (78-28) and Old Colony (75-43) to reach the MIAA Div. 5 quarterfinals, hosting ninth-seeded Ware on Friday with a spot in the state semifinals on the line. 

Top-seeded Pioneer came out firing from the opening whistle, going on a 14-0 run to start the game before ultimately taking a 35-16 lead at the half. The Panthers then outscored Ware 28-8 in the third quarter to seal their ticket to the semis with a decisive 75-29 victory at Messer Gymnasium. 

“First and foremost I’m proud of all the effort the kids have put in,” Panthers coach Scott Thayer said. “The sacrifice, the accountability, the conditioning, the repetition. They did it over and over and over again. They bought into that and you see the byproduct on the floor. We call it holding the rope. It looks like the rope is moving and we’re moving together. I’ve had four or five of those teams in my career and it’s just fun to watch. I’m almost speechless.” 

Unbeaten Pioneer (24-0) will face the winner of No. 4 Drury and No. 5 Boston English in the semifinals at a date and time to be determined. That quarterfinal matchup will take place on Saturday at 4 p.m. 

Heading into that semifinal match, the Panthers are playing their best basketball of the season. 

“We really were aggressive tonight,” Thayer said. “I thought tonight, as far as enthusiasm, energy and effort... I thought we had 100 percent of it. Loose balls, we were rotating on defense picking off passes, we were chasing rebounds down, it was the whole package. I don’t think we shot the ball particularly well in the first half. In the second half the ball was moving better and we got more open looks. Just all around, it was one of our better games.” 

It didn’t take long for Pioneer to establish itself on Friday. Kurt Redeker got to the rim for two, Jackson Glazier scored in transition before Redeker got inside for another basket, forcing Ware (17-6) to use a timeout just 1:16 into the game trailing 6-0. 

The stop in action did nothing to slow down the Panthers. Glazier got to the line and made both, Redeker again got to the rim for a basket, Brayden Thayer hit a jumper before Redeker got inside for two, giving Pioneer a 14-0 lead and forcing Ware to use a second timeout just four minutes into the game. 

Ware got going as Brady Guimond and Alex Orszulak hit 3-pointers before Jack Gaudreau scored in the paint to cut the lead to 14-8, but Panther senior Will Glazier swished a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the quarter to halt the momentum and give Pioneer a 17-8 lead after one. 

“It doesn’t matter who we’re playing,” Brayden Thayer said. “Every team you want to come out going hard and set the pace. They’re a good team. They made it this far for a reason. We came in with the mindset of being ready to go from the jump and we did that building the 14-0 lead. They went on a little run but we had control pretty much the whole game. If we go out there and play our best, there’s nothing to worry about.”

It was more of the same in the second quarter. Redeker and Alex McClelland opened the frame with baskets before Thayer hit a 3-pointer that gave the Panthers a 24-8 lead. 

Jackson Glazier added a 3 and a hoop inside, Redeker scored in the paint before McClelland swished a 3 at the buzzer to give Pioneer its 35-16 lead at intermission. 

While the Panther defense gave Ware trouble throughout, it was Pioneer’s rebounding that was a major difference on Friday. The Panthers dominated the boards, particularly the offensive glass, consistently cleaning up missed shots to add extra possessions, ones they typically cashed in on. 

McClelland led the way with 15 of those rebounds. 

“The bounces were coming our way,” McClelland said. “We definitely wanted it.”

The Panthers offense took off in the third quarter. Pioneer knocked down five 3s in the period, three from Thayer, one from Judah Glenn and one from Ben Werner, with the ball snapping around the perimeter to find the open looks. 

An 11-0 run midway through the quarter put the Panthers up 49-20 before a 14-0 run late helped Pioneer take its 63-24 lead into the fourth, where it ran out the clock to earn the win and earn a second straight Final Four appearance. 

Thayer led the way with 23 points, six rebounds and three assists, Redeker scored 19 points to go along with seven rebounds, eight assists and two steals, Jackson Glazier tallied 11 points and five rebounds, Will Glazier scored seven points and pulled down six boards, Glenn scored five points while McClelland finished with five points, eight assists and two steals in the victory. 

Is there a preference about who Pioneer plays in the semifinals? With the way they’re playing, the Panthers are ready for any opponent. 

“It doesn’t matter,” Brayden Thayer said. “We’ll play whoever.”