Redwood High star guard Semetri Carr doesn’t spend a lot of time worrying.

So let’s just say Carr experienced minor trepidation going into Tuesday’s North Coast Section Division I playoff opener against No. 15-seed Montgomery (Santa Rosa).

Despite a tepid start — not to mention missing their big guy in the middle — Carr and the second-seed Giants fashioned a facile 51-31 victory against the Vikings in Larkspur.

“This could have been a trap game for us,” said Carr, who tallied team-high totals in points (23) and rebounds (nine). “We came off an emotional victory (against Branson in Friday’s MCAL finals) in front of a big crowd. Tonight we started slow but finally found our pace.”

The obvious concern for Redwood (20-6) entering the playoffs was the absence of 6-foot, 7-inch post Simon Leonard, who suffered a concussion after hitting the deck hard in the closing moments of Friday’s contest.

“Everybody has to do a little more — especially at the defensive end — with Simon out,” Carr said. “As guards, we had to play some high ball and try to deny the entry passes.”

As it turned out, Redwood played one of its best defensive games of the season, holding Montgomery under double digits in three of four periods.

“We try to do that (at the defensive end) every single night,” Redwood coach Jay DeMaestri said. “My guys show up and play hard. Montgomery is a good, well-coached team. But I thought we had the more talented team even with Simon out.”

Redwood defeated Montgomery 56-43 on Jan. 18 in a non-league game.

Leonard said he hoped to return to the floor next week, but indicated he was already ruled out for Friday’s NCS second-round contest against No. 7-seed Acalanes. Redwood hosts the game at 7:30 p.m. as part of a doubleheader with the girls team.

“We just have to do whatever the doctors tell us as far as Simon is concerned,” DeMaestri said. “But we do have guys in the middle just as capable. They’re not as tall but they’re just as capable.”

Leonard’s court chores were handled by committee. And the committee did a stellar job of holding Montgomery’s 6-foot, 8-inch post Michael Ule to 11 points and eight rebounds.

Redwood was icy early and did not score its first points until Brennan Woodley sank two free throws a couple of seconds past the midway point of the opening period.

Carr finally etched his mark at the scorer’s table on the final play of the first quarter when he knifed through the paint for a layup.

The field goal gave the Giants an 8-6 lead — a lead they did not relinquish for the remainder of the game.

“They packed the paint,” Carr said. “It took me a little while to get going but once I started to find some open space I started to score some points. In open space, I feel like I’m pretty hard to stop.”

Carr’s eye-catching reverse layup put Redwood up by three late in the half against a stubborn Montgomery squad.

The Giants did not find any daylight on the scoreboard until Woodley’s three-point shot from the corner beat the buzzer and Redwood surged to a six-point advantage.

Redwood put the game away in the third period by playing airtight defense — the Giants limited the Vikings to four points in eight minutes — and an eight-point outburst from Carr.

A rarity in prep basketball occurred when neither team committed a turnover for the entire second period.

In fact, the Giants committed only four turnovers total.