NORTHFIELD — The top of the mountain was in plain view for Pioneer Valley Regional School throughout Friday night’s Western Mass. boys Division III basketball quarterfinal, but the Panthers could never find the last few handholds to get them to the summit.
The fourth-seeded Panthers held a lead for less than three minutes early on, before visiting Hoosac Valley Regional School, last year’s WMass champion and state finalist, edged in front late in the second quarter and kept a small but meaningful cushion from there until the end. Hoosac advanced to UMass’ Curry Hicks Cage with its 66-59 victory at Messer Gymnasium.
Jameson Coughlan scored a game-high 24 points and Matt Koperniak added 18 for the fifth-seeded Hurricanes (13-9), who helped their cause with 11-of-14 free-throw shooting in the fourth quarter alone and 18-of-23 in the game.
Pioneer’s senior standout Brad Hastings, hounded into a 6-of-21 shooting night, led the Panthers (16-5) with 20 points, and junior running mate Tucker Llewelyn was right behind with 17. Tyler Martin knocked down three 3-pointers en route to 10 points.
”Hoosac Valley played very aggressive, tough defense. Our guys needed to step up a little bit more and really meet that head-on, and I’m not sure we did that tonight,” said Pioneer coach Dave Hastings. “They didn’t do anything that we didn’t talk about. Our kids all played as hard as they could. But when it comes to physical play, what Hoosac brought to us is a little beyond what we’re used to playing.”
Jake Willis (seven points) got Pioneer started with a 3-pointer inside the first minute of play, but Hoosac later used an 11-3 run to turn a 5-4 lead into a 16-7 cushion. The Panthers then scored the last five of the quarter, with Martin’s first trey and a baseline drive by Brad Hastings, to pull within 16-12 at the quarter break. Hastings had missed his first six shots of the night before his bucket with two seconds left.
Hoosac then pulled ahead 23-16 before Pioneer ran off seven in a row for the tie, capped by a left-wing three by Hastings that led to a Hurricanes’ timeout with two minutes to go. Koperniak then made a free throw and a 3-pointer for a 27-23 Hoosac edge, and Pioneer was able to answer with Hastings’ foul-line jumper with 15 seconds to play to make it 27-25 at the half.
The Panthers then managed only one field goal and four points in all over nearly five minutes to start the third quarter, while Hoosac extended to a 37-29 lead that forced a Pioneer timeout at the 3:32 mark.
From that point forward, the Hurricanes consistently kept a two- or three-possession spread to the end. Pioneer trailed by six, 42-36, at the end of the third and got a left-corner trey by Llewelyn to start the fourth quarter to make it 42-39. That was as close as the hosts would get. Dahndray Sistrunk (10 points) scored off a Koperniak feed, then made two at the line, and Koperniak tossed in a left-side three for a 49-41 Hoosac lead.
Martin’s last 3-pointer with 2:34 to go pulled the Panthers within 58-54, but Colin Rousseau came up with a steal under Hoosac’s offensive hoop and laid it in. After a Brad Hastings free throw, Coughlan converted a layup from Sistrunk and Koperniak’s two foul shots put the Hurricanes up 64-55 with 48 seconds left, and out of danger.
“We’re not used to getting bodied up in the Hampshire League, like they are in the Berkshires,” said Brad Hastings, the area’s leading scorer at 25.7 points per game this season and a 1,294-point career scorer. “We tried to stay with them and stay together, but they just out-toughed us tonight. They just came off a playoff win (over Hampshire Regional High School), and they looked like a team out there.”
”We couldn’t run with them, we couldn’t let this game get into the 70s,” said Hoosac coach Bill Robinson. “It all comes down to defense and making them grind. For the most part, we wore on Hastings a little bit, and stopped him driving to the basket. We’ve got some tough guys, and we tried to throw as many of them at him as we could.”
Pioneer loses only Brad Hastings and reserve Eric Blanker from this year’s squad.
“I felt bad, there was a lot riding on (Brad’s) shoulders, and I have an expectation that he’s going to be able to come out and deliver. Tonight it didn’t go his way,” said Dave Hastings. “This is the best record and the highest seed we’ve had since 2008. They’re a wonderful group to work with. They give their best, and there’s a great nucleus coming back next year and the year after that.”
Hoosac knocks off Panthers in quarters
