Mahar Regional School keeps chalking up quality wins to start the season.
The Senators turned in a stellar defensive effort and Isaak Reinikainen’s runner with under a minute to play proved to be the difference maker as Mahar knocked off Pioneer Valley Regional School, 56-53, in a Hampshire League boys’ basketball game Monday night at Grzesik-Bixby Gymnasium in Orange.
Mahar has now knocked off Pioneer, Hampshire Regional High School and Hoosac Valley High School en route to a 4-0 start to the season.
The game featured two teams that came into the season as the premiere teams in the HL, behind only Hopkins Academy, and Mahar fired the first shot, as it came back from a one-point deficit entering the fourth quarter to earn the win. The game featured a number of lead changes, and saw both teams go on big runs at different times.
“Just a great game, great atmosphere,” Mahar coach Chad Softic said. “Pioneer never quit, which is a credit to (Panthers’ coach Scott Thayer). It’s great to have Scott back, he’s going to do wonders with that team, and it’s kind of nice to get them early in the season to be honest.”
Pioneer led 10-2 after the first quarter but Mahar took over in the second quarter, using a 20-6 edge to take a 22-16 lead into the break. Mahar increased that lead all the way to 30-19 in the third quarter, but Pioneer went on a 18-6 run to end the quarter to take a 37-36 lead into the fourth.
“They put some pressure on us and they got right back into the game,” Softic said. “They sped the game up on us and were able to get back into it.”
While Pioneer was able to get out and run in the third, much of the game saw the Senators slow down the usually up-tempo Panthers.
“If we get into a shootout with Pioneer, it’s not going to end well for us,” Softic began. “We did a good job in transition and didn’t allow any easy hoops when they tried to run. When they were able to speed it up, we got into trouble.”
Mahar held a three-point lead with under two minutes to play when Hunter Cote (7 points) drained a 3-pointer to tie the game at 53-53. On the ensuing possesion, Reinikainen took a pass and drove to the hoop, putting up a runner from about three feet away that went down and gave the Senators the lead for good at 55-53 with under a minute to play.
Reinikainen played his best game for the Senators according to Softic and finished with a team-high 16 points, 8 rebounds and 5 blocked shots. Bryce Cleveland added 14 points and 6 boards, and Gabe O’Lari chipped in 11 points and 5 assists. Brennan Mailloux added 10 points and 4 assists from the point guard spot.
Tucker Llewelyn finished with 16 points to lead Pioneer, and Tyler Martin added 15 points. Mike Menard hit three 3-points to finish with 9.
Mahar hosts Mohawk Trail Regional High School Wednedsay night, while Pioneer travels to VanSickle Middle School in Springfield tonight to face Renaissance School.
Greenfield 59, Smith Academy 47 — Kevin Mendez had 27 points and 17 rebounds and Greenfield High School dumped Smith Academy, 59-47, in a HL game Monday night at Nichols Gymnasium in Greenfield.
Mendez scored a career-high 31 points against the Falcons last season and followed it up with another huge performance to even the Green Wave’s record at 1-1 on the season. Wave coach Tim Caplice said that Mendez benefitted from a Greenfield transition game that was successful.
“We got out in transition early and that sort of feeds into him,” Caplice said. “He was also a monster on the glass, but our guys did a good job looking for him on the inside often, and that creates opportunities for everyone else.”
Greenfield led 23-10 after the first quarter and remained comfortably ahead from there.
Connor Joy had another nice game for the Wave with 12 points and 6 assists, and Tyler Boissonneault was perhaps the Wave’s best defender on the night according to Caplice. His pressure produced a team-high 5 steals to go with 7 points and 5 rebounds.
Jack Zigmont led Smith Academy with 13 points, and Nick Leary added 10 points.
Mohawk 65, Athol 50 — Ian Eckler scored 22 points and Mohawk survived without its top scorer to defeat Athol High School, 65-50, in a HL game Monday night in Athol.
The Warriors were missing leading scorer Torsten Sloan-Anderson but Eckler stepped up and pumped in a career-high for the Warriors. Matt Finck also notched a career-best with 16 points, as did Jackson Hicks (10 points) and Kaleb Fitzgerald (8 points).
Tyler Lutz finished with 17 points to pace the Red Raiders, and Avery Clyatt finished with 10 points. Justin Blake and Evan Saisa each chipped in 9 points.
McCann Tech 77, FC Tech 69 — McCann Technical High School hit 12 3-pointers on Monday night to knock off Franklin County Technical School, 77-69, in a Tri-County League boys’ game in Turners Falls.
Even with all the 3-pointers, the Eagles were still in position to win the game, entering the fourth quarter down just four points. McCann came out and hit back-to-back 3s to start the fourth, which increased the lead to 10, and the Eagles never closed within shouting distance again.
“I say to the kids all the time, ‘You can take a stranger off the street, it doesn’t matter who it is, anyone can hit an open jump shot,’” Franklin Tech coach Matt Llewelyn said. “And if we did get a stop, we didn’t get the rebound and they kicked it out.”
Logan Tower hit five 3-pointers and finished with a team-high 26 points, while Ethan Sheldon added 17 points, and Steve Lemire dumped in 16.
The loss overshadowed a huge effort by Franklin Tech’s Colin Gould, who went off for 39 points in the loss. Joel Farrick and Corey Johnson each had 10 points in the loss, and Jared Bergmann tossed in 9.
Hopkins 89, Frontier 57 — Sam’i Roe scored 21 points and had 9 rebounds and Hopkins Academy cruised to a 89-57 win over Frontier Regional School Monday night in Hadley.
John Earle netted 18 points in the win, and Justin Ciaglo added 17 points and had 6 assists. Nate Kelley finished with 15 points.
Ben Lowe finished with a career-high 17 points for Frontier, Carsten Carey added 10 points, and Trevor Gilmore chipped in 8.
Hampshire 59, Mahar 53 — Katy O’Connor poured in game-high 27 points to lead Hampshire Regional High School past Mahar Regional School, 59-53, in an independent girls’ basketball game Monday night in Westhampton.
Katelyn Pickunka also played a major role by scoring 20 points for the Raiders, who led 34-25 at intermission.
Kenzie Tenney led three double-digit scorers for the Senators (2-2) with 16 points. She also grabbed 15 rebounds for a double-double. Cassie Verheyen also had a double-double with 11 points and 13 boards. Kadie Jillson chipped in with 12 points and Jasmine Vautour contributed 9.
Mahar (2-2) trailed by as many as 17 in the third quarter but cut it to 5 with 4 minutes to go.
The Senators host Monument Mountain Regional High School Thursday night at 7.
Ware 45, Pioneer 28 — Ware High School got out to a big start and went on to defeat Pioneer, 45-28, in an independent girls’ basketball game Monday night in Ware.
The Indians opened on a 16-0 run to start the game as they held the Panthers (0-2) scoreless in the first quarter, and the hosts led 26-7 at the break. Pioneer missed 33-of-35 shots in the first half, which contributed to the offensive woes
“We had a lot of good opportunities, and we had people who were attempting to score, but clearly not having practiced on the snow day on Sunday didn’t help us,” Pioneer coach Meg Burrington said. “In the second half, they got a little more confidence in them, got some more steals, and put the ball in the hoop. I’m hoping that second-half team is the team we’re going to see most nights.”
Michelle Zawalski led Ware with 16 points, and Jordan Halgas netted a dozen.
Caroline Merkle led Pioneer with 10 points, 10 rebounds and 3 steals, and Jessica Scoville finished with 8 points. Olivia Rowe netted 6 points in the loss.
Pioneer travels to Southwick-Tolland Regional School Friday night.