Don’t tell the Branson School boys basketball team that familiarity breeds contempt.

The Bulls aren’t buying a word of it.

Despite having already defeated San Marin three times this season, the Bulls treated Friday night’s North Coast Section Division III quarterfinal game against the MCAL rival Mustangs as a serious challenge.

Branson stormed to an 11-point first quarter lead and never looked back, making it four in a row against San Marin with a convincing 81-44 victory at the Dominican University gym in San Rafael.

The top-ranked Bulls (25-3) advance to the D-III semifinals Tuesday at 7 p.m. against No. 4 Piedmont.

“We struggled early in games against these guys every time we played them,” Branson senior post George Gale said. “Tonight we had a good jump early. We came in for this one pretty confident and got a big win by a wide margin.”

When the Bulls defeated the Mustangs 71-50 in the semifinals of the MCAL playoffs a little more than a week ago, the score was tied 15-15 at the end of the first quarter.

“We talked about that this week in practice,” Branson coach Steve Johnson said. “We had beaten (San Marin) three times but in every first quarter they were right in the game. We came out with more intensity tonight and in the first quarter we were good and locked in.”

Branson’s Jase Butler, the MCAL player of the year, was a difference maker all game, but especially in the opening stanza.

Butler erupted for 13 points in the first quarter — he was three-for-three from behind the arc — and swept the boards for four rebounds.

“We missed a lot of easy shots early and that didn’t help,” San Marin coach Conn Dunning said. “But Branson is No. 1 for a reason. They’re good.”

While most of the attention focuses on Butler’s offensive proficiency — he had a game-high 19 points, plus five rebounds and three assists — he’s a determined defender as well.

San Marin’s leading scorer Nick Cubley, who hurt the Bulls a bit in the last meeting with 16 points, was shut down by Butler and held to one field goal and four points.

“That’s why Jase was player of the year,” Johnson said. “He drew Cubley tonight and he knows if he shuts him down, we win. And that’s what he did. Jase is always just playing to win and that’s why he’s a special player.”

The Bulls never let up on the throttle and in the second quarter turned to big man Gale for a bulk of the scoring.

Gale scored eight of his 16 points in the second quarter, including a dunk from the baseline on a crisp inside pass from Butler.

“If I get a couple to go down like I did in the second quarter, I start looking for the ball a little more,” Gale said.

Branson closed out the first half on an 8-0 run, punctuated by Semetri Carr’s driving layup just before the buzzer sounded and led 38-20 at intermission.

The Bulls were not satisfied yet.

Carr opened the third quarter by draining a three-pointer and Gale scored back-to-back field goals, the second on another dunk, as Branson scored the first 10 points of the second half to pretty much settle the issue.

Late in the quarter, Branson guard Joe Hammond came off the bench, hustled hard for his own rebound on a missed shot and fed Carr, who knocked down another trey.

Carr, a sophomore, added 16 points and three assists, and four players besides Hammond came off the bench to contribute in the scoring column, including DJ Armstrong who had seven points, four rebounds and three assists.

San Marin was led by Zack Farbstein, who came off the bench to score 11, including a pair of three-pointers. Rio Seller had 10 points for the Mustangs and freshman guard Grant Means added eight points, all in the third quarter.

“I’m proud of this team,” Dunning said. “We were a huge improvement over last season. We had two goals this season — to make the MCAL playoffs and to win an NCS game. We accomplished both.”