Their quest is a tall order, but the Danvers High boys’ basketball team is determined to go the distance.

The Falcons are shooting for their third Division 3 state championship in four seasons. And they will make their bid relying heavily on the three-ball.

Coach John Walsh’s tallest player measures 6 feet 1 inch, so Danvers often is at a size disadvantage in the post. To compensate, the Falcons step outside the 19-foot-9-inch arc and launch 20-30 treys per game. Three-point attempts provide for more rebounding opportunities outside of the paint, where it’s anybody’s ball.

“Our guys are strong down low, but we just don’t have taller guys to fill up the paint,’’ said Walsh, whose squad improved to 13-3 with a 68-63 win over Lynn Classical on Wednesday night.

“Longer shots create longer rebounds, and we’ve got a lot of guys that chase the ball down from outside.’’

At Tewksbury High, coach Phil Conners has the same approach. With no player on his roster standing over 6-1, the Redmen need production from beyond the arc.

“A top NBA team averages about 12 three-pointers made in a 48-minute game; we average about 11 in a 32-minute game,’’ said Conners.

His 12-4 squad attempted 35 treys in a 65-58 loss at Billerica on Tuesday night. But the Redmen bounced back the following night with a 75-43 win over Dracut to secure the Merrimack Valley Conference Division 2 title.

And Tewksbury did so minus its senior captains, center Justin Derrah and guard Nate Tenaglia, the team’s leading scorer, who were handed five-game suspensions on Wednesday for an MIAA violation.

Meanwhile, at Danvers, having up to four players on the court with a proclivity for the long ball has bolstered an already great team with eight straight wins. Though they may not live and die by the three, perimeter shooting has proven to be a difference-maker for the Falcons.

“Strong 3-point shooting allows us to have a larger number of options to attack with every time we make our way down the court,’’ said point guard Tre Crittendon.

“Making shots from all over allows the offense to flow.

“When I can start stringing along three’s,’’ he added, “it allows for the rest of my game to shine. Teams are forced to pressure, so I can use my court vision to find the open man and work off the ball.’’

The “open man’’ is often teammate Rashad Francois, the Falcons’ starting small forward. He, too, can shoot from deep: in a Feb. 3 match against Lynn English, the senior guard knocked down four 3s in the first quarter of a 91-65 rout.

“Three-pointers help in so many different ways,’’ Francois said, “but especially with momentum. . . . We play smart basketball, and when we control the momentum, we control the game.’’

Of course, actually hitting a fair number of 3-pointers helps, and shooting under 20 percent from beyond the arc, as Tewksbury did against Billerica, is not the recipe for success.

The Redmen put up their first 3 just eights seconds after the opening tip.

By the time the first quarter ended, all but two of Tewksbury’s 11 points were from the deep ball.

The Redmen have no choice but to take deep shots — so they aim to perfect it.

Their dedication to the trey begins at practice, where they spend nearly half of the time running a variety of shooting drills from long range. According to Conners, each involves hitting a certain amount of shots in a specific time frame.

“Every kid on the team can tell you his best score as far as shots made within one minute and five minutes,’’ Conners said.

“We chart makes and misses at the beginning of the year so that the coaches and players can see their progression as we spend more and more practice time on it.’’

In games, being able to consistently hit threes allows Tewksbury to develop other facets of its offense. For the guards, the deep ball provides better lanes for drives to the basket. Senior captain Adam Gajjoui is one player very capable of knocking down long balls.

Salem (15-1), which was dealt its first loss of the season on Wednesday night against Lowell, 73-71, has a smooth shooter in 6-2 senior Jhonel Roberts, who is averaging 13 points per game.

Coach Tom Doyle’s squad spreads the floor to get open looks for its best shooters.

“We’re able to spread things out and knock down shots from the perimeter and mid-range,’’ said the coach. “That starts with practicing game situation shots at practice.’’

“I think a lot of our success has to do with our chemistry. We’ve got four returning starters and everyone gets along really well on and off the court.’’

Ethan Schroeder can be reached at ethan.schroeder@globe.com.