NORTHFIELD — Progress in the Western Mass. basketball tournament can be defined by handling pressure situations, but it was the ability to relax that carried Pioneer through its boys Class D semifinal Wednesday night at Messer Gymnasium.

The top-seeded Panthers scored the first six points of their game against Duggan Academy and led by 11 points after one quarter, then by 19 at halftime, and only dropped the hammer from there in a 67-39 blitz of the fifth-seeded Jayhawks.

Pioneer (17-3) got 19 points and nine rebounds from Brayden Thayer and 16 points and nine boards from Kurt Redeker, as well as 15 points by Josh Wood, to move into the Class D championship game against No. 2 Hopkins Academy on Saturday at a time to be determined, likely at Holyoke High School. Hopkins trimmed Hoosac Valley, 57-51, in Wednesday’s other semifinal.

“I think if anybody said at the beginning of the season, we’d be league champs and get to play for a Western Mass. championship, we would have jumped on it,” said Panthers coach Scott Thayer. “But you have to earn it, and these guys have put a lot of work in. The season’s a grind. I keep using the words grit and resiliency all year, because we are so young. They’ve grown up quite a bit in the last couple of months.”

Duggan’s Jaylen Edwards came off the bench to score nine of his team-high 11 points in the fourth quarter alone. Caleb Murphy scored nine points, Nygel Dickerson had seven and Jayson Dulude five for the Jayhawks (14-4).

Redeker had eight first-quarter points and Wood seven for the Panthers, which led 6-0 and 10-3 out of the gate. After a three-pointer by Dickerson, Sam Glazier scored in the lane, Wood completed an old-fashioned three-point play and then Wood beat the buzzer with a fast-break score, as Pioneer ran off the last seven points of the quarter to lead 17-6.

Another late run, this one 11-3 in Pioneer’s favor, helped the hosts grow their lead from 23-12 to 34-15 by halftime. Brayden Thayer knocked down a pair of 3’s, Gavin Gammell stepped out for a trey, and Thayer made two free throws after a Duggan technical foul with only 10 seconds left, to make it a 19-point advantage.

The game proceeded into wipeout territory from there as the hosts put up the first nine points of the third quarter. Hugh Cyhowski got the Panthers going with a 3-pointer from on top, Wood scored in transition, Thayer hit two more technical free throws and Redeker scored inside for a 43-15 lead. The Jayhawks managed only one field goal and seven points in the quarter as Pioneer went out 57-22 by the end of the third.

“The first tournament game (against Baystate Academy), we were a little bit back on our heels. The No. 1 seed can have that kind of connotation,” said Scott Thayer. “Tonight, we were more relaxed. We came out and we were impressive defensively.

“We've played Hopkins twice, they won here, and we won there. There are no secrets. It's going to be a rockfight and a fun competition. It comes down to execution and the mental part of it, how you deal with the adversity that happens throughout the game.”

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