NEEDHAM — Last season’s Division 1 boys basketball runner-up got its quest for a return trip to Lowell off to a good start Thursday night.

Facing a dangerous Taunton squad, Needham turned to its depth to overwhelm the Tigers. Nine different players got on the scoresheet, led by 18 points from Chris Morrison, as the Rockets turned a close game into a fairly comfortable 71-53 win.

“That’s one of my favorite parts about coaching this team,” Needham coach Paul Liner said about his team’s balance. “Anyone can step up on a given night.”

On Thursday, it was a troika of Rockets who came to the fore.

Johnson had 12 of his 18 points in the first quarter, helping the Rockets to a 19-7 lead as they never trailed in the game.

Taunton kept within shouting distance in part due to the shooting of Troy Santos, who had 11 first-half points as the Tigers were down 31-21 at the break.

Santos was hounded all over the floor by senior guard Devin Dellamarggio, whose job it was to make him work for everything. And for the most part, he succeeded as Santos had to grind for all of his game-high 27 points.

Dellamarggio also came up huge from the floor in the third quarter when Taunton threatened to make it interesting by cutting the gap to 39-31.

Dellamarggio rattled off seven straight points to give the Rockets back control thanks to a 11-2 run that blew the game open at the end of the third.

Brian Cloonan had the capping blow when his three-pointer beat the buzzer to make it a 17-point game. The Bay State Conference MVP finished with 13 points on the night.

The Rockets’ run eventually reached 23-7 as they opened a 24-point lead early in the fourth and were able to cruise home from there.

“We knew coming in that they could really shoot it and we had to defend on every play,” Liner said. “We did a great job of that and it’s a good way to begin the tournament.”