Looking to avoid a repeat of the team’s narrow three-point win at Alleman earlier this season, Newman was confident the Pioneers would not be able to keep up this time around in the regional semifinals.

The Comets proved their point.

Newman scored its season-high with an 85-63 win in a Class 1A Alleman Regional semifinal.

The Associated Press top-ranked Comets advance to face Forreston in Friday’s regional final at 7 p.m. The Cardinals beat Annawan 52-44.

Newman (32-1) also set the program’s single-season wins record with the victory as Garret Matznick had 19 points, Evan Bushman 17, John Rowzee 15, Asher Ernst 13 and George Jungerman 11.

Newman led 57-36 at halftime and hit 11 3-pointers in the win.

Newman beat Alleman just 73-70 on Jan. 7.

“We had a close one here last time, a 3-point game, and I think our goal was to just come out and just demolish them,” Rowzee said. “No disrespect to them, but I think we did that tonight. Our whole plan was to get it down low and kind of show dominance.

“Hit some big 3s, so that always helps.”

Rowzee was nearly automatic inside while Bushman hit five 3s and Jungerman hit two of his three in the fourth quarter.

The Comets played with a relentless pace that led to a high shot volume. It also led to Alleman (10-22) turning it over 16 times.

“We were able to push the pace all night and they just couldn’t keep up with us,” Matznick said. “Most teams can’t run with us. In practice, you would see why. We really work hard for it.”

Newman also rebounded, dove for loose balls and kept the pressure on offensively. Alleman’s leading scorer was Miles Granet with 23 points while freshman Dereon McDaniel had 16 points. Bryce Jackson scored 12 and Jack Wendt had six before fouling out.

Alleman cut it to eight in the third quarter before the Comets started to pull away.

“I think we respected our opponent a lot more this time around,” Newman coach Ray Sharp said. “Our defensive intensity was much better than the first time we played them. We knew we had to do that. We didn’t want it to be a one possession game like last time.”

The young Pioneers look to be a challenge in the coming years with eight underclassmen and some good size and athleticism.

“They’re well coached and they’re really young,” Sharp said. “They’ve got a lot of players and in a couple years are going to be a very talented team. They’re going to be a problem dealing with them down the road.”

In a loud road environment early in the postseason, the Comets’ experience helped control the game.

“We’ve been in big games like this before,” Rowzee said. “Loud crowd, we knew it was going to be big. I think just having four seniors that have played a lot of games really helped.”