GRANBY — Prior to Tuesday’s tip off between the No. 1 Granby boys basketball team and No. 4 Mahar in the PVIAC Class C semifinals, Rams head coach Dylan Dubuc only had one thing on his mind — and if his team could execute it, he didn’t see an upset happening.

“Tempo,” Dubuc said. “We’re going to play with tempo tonight.”

Granby certainly got the message, as it raced up and down its home floor — using an extended full-court press to cause 15 Mahar turnovers in the first 16 minutes — en route to a 35-17 halftime lead. The hosts ultimately put it in cruise control to claim a 62-45 victory, exacting revenge after losing to Mahar in the Class C finals in 2024.

Dubuc and the Rams had been ready for this one since the stinging defeat last winter.

“That game eats at me,” Dubuc said of last year’s final. “We allowed them to play the slow tempo game, and Mahar ended up making the first run and slowing it down. I own that one… I kicked myself after that. It’s been eating at me and the guys as well.”

Granby may have allowed Mahar to play that style in last year’s championship, but it wasn’t going to make the same mistake again.

Although the Rams didn’t put up 97 points like they did in the quarterfinal round, they still showed that same offensive urgency. Granby drove into the Senators’ zone using the quickness of guards NeNe Fernandez and Riley Goodhind, and after each made shot, all five white jerseys were in the correct defensive position in their press.

It was a sound, fundamental 32 minutes of basketball from the Rams on Tuesday. And they played exactly how their coaching staff wanted them to.

“[Mahar head coach Chad Softic] is a great coach over there, and they’ve got a great ball club over there,” Dubuc said. “But they go six or seven deep and play a slower style. We’re more of an up-tempo team, and on our home court we wanted to dictate that. Getting up in the press, putting a little ball pressure and making them play faster was the game plan. Our guys executed and did a hell of a job at that.”

Any time Mahar made a little run, Granby responded with timely shooting from behind the arc. The Rams knocked down eight 3s coming from four different players, half of those long balls coming in the second quarter.

Whether it was Fernandez, Goodhind, Raymond Colon or Cody Breault, Granby would drive and kick to one of its 3-point snipers to hit timely shot after timely shot to keep the Senators out of reach.

“I think that’s the key, right?” Dubuc said of his team’s shooting. “It’s not a secret that we have really good guard play, guys that can get a step on people and get paint touches and kick outs. If guys can knock it down, now we’re stretching the defense, putting more points on the board and we’re able to get into our press. We got guys that can score.”

Goodhind led the way with a game-high 17 points, Sawyer Clarke was dominant down low scoring 13, Fernandez was his typical self, scoring and distributing as he put up an efficient 12 points, and Colon (12 points) buried a trio of 3s for Granby.

Having finished their regular season with quality tests against Hoosac Valley, Monument Mountain and South Hadley, the Rams are prepared for any postseason test. Dubuc called it “the tournament before the tournament,” and now his guys are filled with confidence after going 2-1 in that stretch.

Granby awaits the winner of Thursday’s other Class C semifinal between No. 2 Drury and No. 3 Ware in Saturday’s championship game.

Non-playoff games

Northampton 60, Amherst 50 – Naihmond Peters-Wolfe dropped a game-high 25 points and the Blue Devils snagged a double-digit win over the rival Hurricanes in non-playoff action Tuesday in Amherst.

Luke McGrath dropped 15 points for Northampton (8-11), which won its fourth game in a row. The Devils close their regular season with Westfield at home on Thursday.

Amherst (4-15), which led 29-27 at halftime, received a team-high 13 points from Xavier McCall. Tre Bowman and Mitchell Carey notched 11 points apiece for the ’Canes, which travel to Westfield on Wednesday for its finale.

West Springfield 64, Smith Voc 56 – Dom Sanchez and the Vikings led 27-26 at halftime, but West Springfield righted the ship in the second half and rallied for a non-playoff win Tuesday.

Sanchez went for 29 points to pace Smith Voc (13-6), which plays Lenox in its regular season finale on Wednesday. Brayden Kukucka added eight points and Justin Porter tossed in seven.

Ludlow 67, Easthampton 46 – Brayden English led three Eagles in double figures with 13 points in Tuesday’s non-playoff loss in Ludlow.

Jasper Alvarez and Logan Boyle tallied 10 points apiece for Easthampton (4-15), which closes its season Wednesday at home against Renaissance.