Mahar Regional School overcame a sluggish start to overpower rival Athol High School, 59-38, in a Franklin County League girls’ basketball game Tuesday night at Grzesik-Bixby Gymnasium in Orange.
The Senators (3-3 overall) could not find the net in the first quarter and fell into a 9-1 hole late in the frame, which they cut to 9-3 heading into the second quarter. The offense came to life over the next eight minutes, scoring 19 points, and taking a 22-20 lead into halftime.
The second half saw Mahar pull away, outscoring the Red Raiders, 16-6, in the third quarter and then putting the game away in the fourth by outscoring Athol, 21-12.
“The girls were nervous early, which was not what I expected of them,” Mahar coach Larry Fisher said. “The veterans made some turnovers, but they recovered and finished very well.”
Cassie Verheyen just missed a triple-double but finished with 10 points, 13 rebounds and 8 blocked shots. Kenzie Tenney led the Mahar offense with 13 points, and Hannah Paul with the third Senator in double figures with 14 points. Jasmine Vautour added 3 points and 10 rebounds.
Hope Parker led Athol (1-4) with 17 points, and Julia Carey tossed in 13.
Pioneer 46, Drury 44 — Jessica Scoville scored on a layup with 20 seconds left and then grabbed a rebound in the final seconds to lead Pioneer Valley Regional School to its first win of the season with a 46-44 independent girls’ basketball victory over Drury High School Tuesday night in North Adams.
Pioneer led 44-41 until Brooke Digennaro hit a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to tie the score. Drury put the full-court press on to try and rattle the Panthers, but Pioneer was able to break the press and turned that into a layup for Scoville, who converted the basket to put the Panthers ahead by a deuce.
Drury had a chance to tie the game in the final 10 seconds, missing both the first shot and a follow-up, and Scoville grabbed her 10th and final rebound of the game to allow the Panthers to run out the clock.
“Our girls finally came to play tonight,” Pioneer coach Meg Burrington said. “They stayed composed, finished their layups and played like they’re a veteran team.”
Scoville paced the team with 16 points, 10 rebounds and 5 steals, while Olivia Rowe added a double-double with 11 points and 10 boards. Caroline Merkle added 6 points, 10 rebounds and 5 blocked shots, Alexus Vergobbe tossed in 7 points, and Maddy Tyson had one point and 6 assists.
Digennaro led Drury with 20 points.
Turners 76, Narrgnsett 64 — Turners Falls High School ran its season-opening unbeaten streak to five games with a 76-64 win over Narragansett Regional High School in an independent boys’ basketball game Tuesday night in Baldwinville.
Tionne Brown narrowly missed a triple-double in leading the Indians (5-0) with 19 points, 10 rebounds and 8 assists. He was one of four Turners Falls players to reach double-figure scoring. Tyler Lavin netted 14 points in the win, Josh Obuchowski added a dozen, and Kyle Bergmann tossed in 10.
The Indians led 42-27 at halftime and increased the lead after three quarters, taking a 59-40 lead into the fourth before the Warriors cut into it a bit.
Drury 80, Pioneer 66 — Hayden Bird scored 23 points and Connor Meehan dumped in 21 as Drury topped Pioneer, 80-66, in an independent boys’ basketball game Tuesday night in North Adams.
Reece Racette added 17 points for the Blue Devils, who led 41-31 at halftime. Drury put the game away in the third quarter, outscoring Pioneer, 22-6.
“They played hard and aggressive,” Pioneer coach Scott Thayer said. “They had us back on our heels and we just didn’t respond. This is a teaching game. We failed to compete with a competitive spirit tonight.”
Tucker Llewelyn scored 27 points to lead Pioneer (2-3), while Brendan Emond added 10 points. Jake Willis netted 9 points, and Jordan Loughman tossed in 6.
Sci-Tech 73, Greenfield 57 — Greenfield High School dug itself into too great a hole to climb out of early on and the Green Wave suffered a 73-57 setback to Springfield School of Science & Technology in an independent boys’ basketball game Tuesday in Springfield.
The Green Wave (1-3) fell into a 19-9 hole in the first quarter and were unable to fully recover. Greenfield coach Tim Caplice said he continues to be frustrated by his team’s slow starts.
“Jake Suhl scored our first six points. He was the only one who came ready to play,” the coach began. “We are not starting the game with the sense of urgency we need to in order to win varsity basketball games and I don’t understand it.
“We pretty much played them even after the first quarter,” he continued. “But whenever we would string together some stops, we would lose a shooter and they would make us pay. And we gave up 21 offensive boards. And that comes after we gave up 19 to Turners Falls the other night. When we don’t do the little things, teams are making us pay.”
Sci-Tech had four players hit double figures in the win. Lloyd Wilson led the charge with 18 points, and Mark Williams tossed in 13. Khari Williams and Willie Bosworth both finished with 12.
Connor Joy led the Green Wave with 14 points and 7 assists, and Kevin Mendez finished with 13 points, 14 rebounds and 3 blocked shots. Suhl tossed in a career-high 11 points.
Mahar 76, Athol 34 — Isaak Reinikainen registered 19 points, 10 rebounds and 4 assists on Tuesday and Mahar dumped Athol, 76-34, in a Hampshire League boys’ basketball game in Orange.
Bryce Cleveland netted 13 points to go with 4 assists, and Sam Paul added 10 points and 7 assists. Brennan Mailloux collected 9 points, 11 rebounds and 6 assists, and Nick Stafford tossed in 10 points. Daesean Watson had 5 points and 6 rebounds, and Jake Lacasse and Quinn Gervais each added 5 points.
Evan Saisa led Athol with 8 points, and Avery Clyatt and Mark Ferrari each tossed in 6.