Hall-Dale’s Greyson Cary recovers a loose ball as Richmond’s Zaden Steele crashes to the court during a Class C South boys basketball quarterfinal game Monday at the Augusta Civic Center. Rich Abrahamson/Morning Sentinel

AUGUSTA — The Hall-Dale boys basketball team’s mantra was simple Monday night: Score early and often, and stop the opponent from doing likewise.

The fifth-seeded Bulldogs stormed out to a 15-point lead early and never looked back in a 76-41 rout of No. 4 Richmond in a Class C South quarterfinal at the Augusta Civic Center.

Hall-Dale, which reached a season high in points, will play the winner of Monday’s late game between No. 1 Mt. Abram and No. 8 Dirigo on Thursday night at the Civic Center.

For the second straight season, the Bulldogs, who play in the Mountain Valley Conference, knocked off the higher-seeded Bobcats, of the East-West Conference. Seventh-seeded Hall-Dale upset No. 2 Richmond 60-38  in last year’s C South quarterfinal.

Keegan Cary led a balanced Hall-Dale scoring attack with 17 points; three other Bulldogs also scored in double figures. On the other end of the ball, Hall-Dale harried and harassed Richmond into a series of turnovers, fouls and out-of-bounds calls.

“We were just going to come out and do what we do, which is play full-court defense for 32 minutes,” Hall-Dale coach Chris Ranslow said.

How Hall-Dale did it

• The Bulldogs led 17-2 nearly five minutes into the game and 28-11 after one quarter. Cary scored 10 points during the first.

• Defensively, Ranslow said the Bulldogs made 17 steals during the first three quarters, before he emptied his bench in the fourth.

“We knew we needed to pressure this team early and get out in transition,” Cary said. “I’m not sure how many transition points we had, but it contributed a lot to our total.”

Richmond coach Nathan Schultz noted the Bobcats haven’t faced many teams like Hall-Dale that attack nonstop.

“The transition defense is hard to get into,” Schultz said. “These MVC teams definitely add a little quickness, a little more than what we’re used to in the East-West. It was a challenge for us.”

The key moment

• A couple plays midway through the second quarter summed up Hall-Dale’s game plan perfectly. The Bulldogs’ Matt Waller made consecutive steals and converted them into easy layups to give his team a 32-12 lead. Waller made another layup at the buzzer to send the Bulldogs into halftime with a 47-20 advantage.

“I thought we came out with the right spirit,” Ranslow said. “When we play hard and we’re energized and we’ve got five guys into it on the floor and 10 guys into it on the bench, I think we’re a hard unit to beat.”

Statistical leaders

• Hall-Dale: Keegan Cary (17 points), Karter Eldridge (15 points), Matt Waller (13 points), Jaxon Olsen (11 points).

• Richmond: David Edwards (11 points), Zander Steele (10 rebounds).

They said it

• “It feels great. I think we had all the confidence going into this game. We knew we just had to play our style of basketball and we’d come out on top.” — Keegan Cary

• “I can’t give these guys enough credit. They gave everything they got for 32 minutes. They don’t care if  they’re up 30, down 30. I couldn’t be prouder of them for that.” — Nathan Schultz