The Redwood High boys basketball team controlled its own destiny entering the final game of the MCAL regular season.

The Giants needed to beat Archie Williams on the road to notch the regular-season title and grab the No. 1 seed for next week’s MCAL tournament.

That scenario became a reality on Thursday night in San Anselmo thanks in large part to Semetri Carr’s performance.

Carr pumped in a game-high 32 points, 19 of which came after halftime, in leading Redwood to a 71-66 win over the Peregrine Falcons.

“It was a great atmosphere,” Carr said. “It was their senior night. A lot of people here. High intensity game from the start. They came out and shot the ball well. I just had to trust my guys and was able to get to the rim, everything was flowing.”

It was the Giants’ first outright regular-season title in coach’s Jay DeMaestri’s tenure. Redwood (17-6, 7-1 MCAL) finished in a tie for first place with Branson two years ago.

“All these games are huge in this single-round (season) format,” DeMaestri said. “Archie is a great team. We knew it was going to be hostile coming in here. The win was huge. We don’t have to play until Wednesday and get to go watch a (first-round playoff) game on Monday.”Carr’s most productive offensive quarter was the fourth when he had 10 points, which included four made free throws down the stretch to help ice the game.

Noah Tanaka (11 points) made all four of his free throws in the final 30 seconds to keep it more than a one-score possession.

Tyler White finished with seven points and Brennan Woodley added six in the win.

“They came out playing hard after halftime,” Carr said of the Falcons. “We trusted ourselves and were able to weather the storm. Our bench had great minutes. We have a special group. We know teams are going to make runs. As long as we stay together and move the ball around, it will open things up.”

Carr also stood out defensively with a handful of steals that turned into some easy baskets, including Carr’s dunk midway through the first quarter as the lead see-sawed back and forth early on.

Leo Centeno and Zach Dinowitz came off Redwood’s bench to each nail timely 3-pointers in the fourth quarter that helped deflate Archie’s comeback efforts.

The Falcons (17-7, 5-3) were able to erase an eight-point halftime deficit thanks in large part to some full-court pressure. Grady Stewart helped fuel the comeback by scoring 15 of his 18 points during the final two quarters.

James Butler had 22 points to lead the way for Archie. He had 11 of those points in the final quarter to keep the Falcons in the hunt.

It was just trying to keep Carr under control that was the problem.

“(Carr) was able to get downhill and facilitate for his team,” Butler said. “We need to play better defense next time. We need to be better on defense and be more disciplined. Stick to the game plan more and offensively we’ve been good. Just have to step up on defense.”

Dante Stallone also finished in double figures with 12 for Archie Williams.

“It takes 32 minutes to beat a team like this,” Archie Williams coach Russell Bauer said. “In the first half we made some turnovers resulting in some easy buckets for them that sure put us in a hole. Also we were not consistent on the defensive rebounds. Those were what we were keying on coming into this down to win those battles in the boxscores. I thought we did a better job in the second half.”

The Giants (17-6, 8-1) need two victories on their home court to win next week’s tournament title. They wait to face the lowest seed remaining in Wednesday’s semifinals.

Branson finished second to earn the other first-round bye.

No. 3 seed Marin Catholic will host No. 6 Terra Linda and No. 5 San Rafael is at No. 4 Archie Williams on Monday.

“This is our outright first title in my six years but we definitely have our eyes on other goals,” DeMaestri said. “The next step is the MCAL tournament.”