Seabury sophomore Zach McDermott (5) gets tripped up by Northern Heights' Tucker Litke, left, during their sub state playoff game Tuesday evening at Bishop Seabury Academy.

With the start of the postseason, Bishop Seabury’s boys basketball players were all business on Tuesday against Northern Heights.

The Seahawks are at their best when they are forcing turnovers and sprinting into their transition offense. That’s the formula they followed in a 66-39 rout at Dillon Gymnasium, earning a running clock throughout the fourth quarter in their final home game.

In the second quarter, the Seahawks pulled away with a 19-2 run in a five-minute stretch. Defensively, they baited the Wildcats into making bad passes. Junior Mikey Wycoff, in his third game back from an ankle injury, was a magnet with a game-high five steals and junior Max Easter added three steals.

On offense, sophomore Bansi King found his rhythm with five straight points to start the spurt before Wycoff added five points, senior forward Thomas Uhler scored on a putback and King drilled another three on his way to 11 points.

“We’re not a very good defensive team,” said Wycoff, who had 16 points and six rebounds. “Offensive, yes. But we try to get (ourselves) going on defense.”

Once one player finds his shooting stroke, the rest of the team follows. After King scored eight points in the second quarter with two triples, Wycoff followed with a pair of threes, including a swish from the left wing before the halftime buzzer, giving the Seahawks a 37-10 advantage.

In the third quarter, sophomore Zach McDermott heated up by scoring 14 of his game-high 22 points. He knocked down four triples in the period, freeing himself around a few screens.

“We don’t have green lights, we have neon-flashing green lights,” Seabury coach Ashley Battles said. “I think a lot of it, too, is our offense puts us in position to get some good shots. We have great ball handlers and great passers. Everything just works out really well.”

Playing without sophomore Mr. Glue Guy Thomas diZerega, who was out of town, the Seahawks turned to junior Austin Gaumer to fill that role. Gaumer finished with three points, four rebounds and four assists, finding his teammates with strong passes.

Motivated by a one-point loss in the sub-state semifinals last season, the second-seeded Seahawks (16-3) were happy with their win, but far from satisfied.

In the third quarter, the Wildcats (6-15) went on a 14-6 run during a three-minute stretch. The Seahawks held Northern Heights to just 10 points in the first half, but allowed open shots during the spurt, including six points by Northern Heights junior Trey Preisner.

“The third quarter was awful,” Battles said. “We played awful basketball. I told them, ‘If you do that, if you have two minute slip-ups from here on out, then it can cost you the game.'”

Of course, it’s nitpicking after a 27-point victory, but the Seahawks know how valuable each possession can be in the postseason.

“My freshman year, we kept saying, ‘Next year,'” Wycoff said. “Then last year, we said, ‘Next year.’ We feel like this is a special year so we won’t have to say next year.”

The Seahawks will play No. 3 seed Lyndon (17-4) in the sub-state semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Friday at Lyndon.

Northern Heights (39)

Trey Preisner 4-9 1-3 11, Tucker Litke 3-6 0-0 8, Connor Cottonmyre 3-7 0-1 7, Colton Springer 0-2 3-4 3, Mason French 0-3 0-0 0, Michael DeWeese 3-9 0-2 8, Nick Boline 0-0 0-0 0, Jacob Lewis 0-0 0-0 0, Justin Redelfs 1-3 0-0 2, Avery Lupkes 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-39 4-10 39.

Bishop Seabury (66)

Mikey Wycoff 5-10 3-4 6, Zach McDermott 9-17 0-0 22, Thomas Uhler 3-5 0-0 6, Bansi King 4-10 0-0 11, Austin Gaumer 1-3 0-0 3, Chris Green 2-4 2-2 6, Max Easter 0-5 0-0 0, Austin Dominguez 1-2 0-0 2, Carter Claxton 0-2 0-0 0, Thomas Silvestri 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-59 5-6 66.

N. Heights 5 5 16 13–39

Seabury 13 24 21 8–66

Three-point goals: Northern Heights 7-21 (Preisner 2, Litke 2, DeWeese 2, Cottonmyre); Seabury 11-31 (McDermott 4, Wycoff 3, King 3, Gaumer). Turnovers: Northern Heights 21, Seabury 10.