AUGUSTA – They may not be the top seed this year, but Valley made a strong case that it’s still the team to beat in Saturday’s Western Class D quarterfinal.

The second-ranked Cavaliers began their quest for a seventh consecutive state championship with a familiar 82-53 rout of No. 10 Richmond at the Augusta Civic Center.

Valley (18-0) will meet No. 3 North Yarmouth Academy in the semifinals Wednesday.

Mark Gaudet poured in a game-high 28 points for Valley. Shane Hutchings led Richmond (9-8) with 15 points and 14 rebounds, while Glendon Kendrick added 12 points and seven boards.

Valley jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the game and never looked back, leading 21-10 at the end of the first quarter and 42-23 at halftime. While Gaudet got them going with 10 points in the first quarter, the Cavs spread the ball around in the second, getting all nine who saw action into the scorebook. Mark Hyland led the second wave of scorers with nine points.

“Most of the year we’ve been able to play nine or 10 guys and that’s really helped,” said Valley coach Dwight Littlefield. “Throughout the year we’ve had some injuries and illnesses, so all of the younger kids got a lot of playing time.”

Valley forced 14 first-half turnovers to kick-start its trademark transition game. In the halfcourt, the Cavs used backdoor and baseline cuts to create contact and get to the foul line (12-16 in the first half). They then took the barrage outside in the second half as Gaudet (five 3-pointers for the game) and Hyland hit from beyond the arc to stretch the lead as high as 34 in the third quarter before sending in the third string early in the fourth quarter.