With his fourth-seeded squad playing its best basketball of the season, Central boys basketball coach Doc Wheeler said a 16-point home loss to undefeated Salem two weeks earlier helped propel his young hoopsters into the Class L semifinals.

The Little Green have won five in a row since the embarrassing setback Feb. 22, earning a rematch with the defending state champs following a 41-32 thumping of No. 5 Londonderry in the Class L quarterfinals on Sunday, March 9.

“We’re playing our best basketball by far right now,” said Wheeler. “If you would have seen us play Alvirne in the (sixth) game of the season (a 59-38 Central loss), to be honest, we weren’t a very good team. But we’re blessed in that we’ve had a lot of younger kids mature, accept roles … and it’s going to take a heck of an effort to knock us out.”

Londonderry can attest to that. Central jumped to a 5-0 lead and never allowed the Lancers within three points. Behind 17 points from senior Michael Stys and another 12 from junior Will Bayliss, the Little Green turned a 20-7 first-half advantage into an easy win.

While the contest was never in doubt, even Wheeler had to admit that he couldn’t have expected 41 points to win a playoff game, though he noted his defense more than made up for the offensive shortcomings.

“Seven points at halftime, you think about that, they scored on three possessions,” he said. “I mean, we can’t play any better than that.”

Wheeler said his squad’s familiarity with the University of New Hampshire’s Lundholm Gymnasium paid dividends against Londonderry.

“I think it’s pretty significant. Our guys expect to be here, and they expected to win,” he said. The Little Green’s rematch against Salem, the one squad with as much recent experience in Durham, was set for Wednesday, March 12.

Wheeler said adjustments were made and his team was ready, adding that, aside from several late-game free throws, Salem star Josh Jones made one field goal in the second half of the previous meeting.

The winner of the semifinal match plays Saturday, March 15, for the state title. Tipoff is 3 p.m.