If Pioneer Valley Regional School was looking for a statement win, it arrived Monday night.
The Panthers survived a shaky third quarter after losing the lead and battled back to knock off second-place Mahar Regional School, 49-46, in a key Hampshire League boys’ basketball game at Messer Gymnasium in Northfield.
“This was a good win for the kids,” said Pioneer head coach Scott Thayer. “It showed a lot about where we’ve come from and how we’ve grown as a team.”
An 18-10 second-quarter advantage put the Panthers (11-4 overall, 9-2 HL) in front 27-21 at the break, but the Senators (13-2, 10-2 HL) reversed that advantage in the third to grab the lead heading into the final period.
Pioneer continued to battle and held a one-point lead late. Tyler Martin then made a basket to give the Panthers a three-point lead. Mahar got the ball with 8 seconds left and got a look at a potential game-tying trifecta that did not fall and the Panthers ran out the clock.
“This was a good team win,” said Thayer. “The games we play with them are usually rock fights. The kids work hard on both teams. It was a good win against a solid tournament team.”
Tucker Llewelyn had a big night for Pioneer with a game-high 18 points. Martin finished with 9 points, 3 rebounds and 3 assists, and Hunter Cote chipped in 6 points.
Jacob Hill registered 5 rebounds and played solid defense on Mahar’s Issak Reinikainen, who still led the Senators with 12 points.
“(Jacob) did a good job,” said Thayer. “(Reinikainen) had to work for his points.
Bryce Cleveland added 11 points for Mahar, while Sam Paul chipped in 9, Gabe O’Lari had 8 and Brennan Mailloux ended up with 6.
Hoosac 65, Greenfield 46 — Hoosac Valley outscored Greenfield High School, 43-20, in the second half to come back from a halftime deficit and knock off the Green Wave, 65-46, in an independent boys’ basketball game Monday night at Nichols Gymnasium in Greenfield.
The Green Wave (5-10) led 26-22 at halftime but the Hurricanes stormed back, outscoring the Wave 18-4 in the third quarter and 25-16 in the fourth. Greenfield coach Tim Caplice said his team wore down a bit and began playing more to the pace that the Hurricanes wanted.
“Hoosac wanted to get the ball up and down the floor as fast as possible and we couldn’t run with them,” he said. “We took care of the ball and had them playing a half-court game in the first half. They want to wear you down and I think we did wear down in the second half.”
Kevin Mendez scored 16 points in the first half but Hoosac changed to a box-and-one in the second half and held him to 4 points after the break. Mendez had a big game, adding 16 rebounds to go with his 20 points. Tyler Boissonneault and Adam Phelps each added 6 points in the loss.
Keagan McGrath finished with a game-high 24 points for Hoosac. Tyler Lancia added 11.
Greenfield must win its final five games to qualify for the tournament. The Wave will try to start a winning streak on Wednesday when it travels to Athol High School.
FC Tech 65, St. Mary’s 54 — Franklin County Technical School took advantage of a big third-quarter effort and qualified for the WMass Division IV Tournament with a 65-54 win over St. Mary’s High School in Tri-County League boys’ basketball action Monday night in Turners Falls.
The Eagles struggled in the first half and actually went into the break trailing 33-29 to the Saints, who have just two wins on the season. Coach Matt Llewelyn said he spoke to the team at halftime and reminded the players what was at stake.
“They did a lot of listening,” he said. “We told them that the coaching staff was less than impressed, and if they didn’t pick it up in the second half they were going to lose to a two-win St. Mary’s team.”
Point guard Joel Farrick ignited the offense in the third quarter with 10 of his 12 points. That helped open up Colin Gould, who also scored 10 points in the third, and Franklin Tech outscored the Saints 24-5 in the third to outscore their entire first-half output by five points.
“We forced a lot of turnovers and converted them,” Llewelyn said. “We held them to one field goal in the third. We played eight minutes of defense tonight, and it was all in the third quarter. But they were reminded that we need to play 32 minutes of defense if we want to win moving forward. And even though it’s an ugly win, an ugly win is better than a pretty loss.”
Gould paced the Eagles (10-6) with 34 points. Jared Vielmetti-Perusse and Garrett Cole each added 8 points.
Jake Butler led St. Mary’s with 23 points.
Mahar 66, Palmer 34 — Mahar Regional School qualified for the Western Mass. Division III Tournament by coasting to a 66-34 independent girls’ basketball win over Palmer High School Monday night at the Grzesik-Bixby Complex in Orange.
Kenzie Tenney led the Senators with a game-high 17 points and 19 rebounds, including 11 boards in the third period alone. Hannah Paul netted a dozen points and Cassidy Verheyen totaled 11 points, 13 rebounds and 6 assists as Mahar raced out to a 17-point halftime lead and blew it wide open in the third, outscoring the Panthers 15-4.
Madison Cole and Megana Wilson each scored 8 for Palmer.
Turners 67, Southwick 38 — Turners Falls High School shot 32 of 44 from the free-throw line and knocked off Southwick-Tolland Regional High School, 67-38, in an independent girls’ hoop game Monday in Turners Falls.
Turners Falls came out on fire and outscored Southwick 26-11 in the first quarter to take command of the game early.
Aliyah Sanders shot 12 of 16 from the line and finished with a game-high 20 points to go with 8 rebounds, and Kylie Fleming shot 5 of 6 from the line and 5 of 9 from the floor to finish with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Maddy Chmyzinski shot 9 of 12 from the line and finished with 15 points, and Chloe Ellis finished with 9 points and 10 rebounds while holding Southwick center McKinley White to 10 points. Lexi Lacey added 3 points on 3 of 4 free-throw shooting.
Pioneer 35, Pope Francis 30 — Pioneer Valley Regional School punched its postseason ticket Monday night with a 35-30 win over Pope Francis High School in independent girls’ hoop action in Chicopee.
Pioneer (10-6) trailed 21-20 entering the fourth quarter but outscored the Cardinals 15-9 in the final eight mintues to earn the victory.
“They finally woke up,” Pioneer coach Meg Burrington said. “We started driving and that also got us to the foul line. We need to step it up if we want to compete in the tournament.”
Three Panthers finished with double-doubles in the win. Jess Scoville finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds, Olivia Rowe had 10 points and 14 boards, and Caroline Merkle tossed in 10 points and grabbed 11 rebounds. Brianna Jobst added 4 points in the win.
Megan Driscoll led Pope Francis with 12 points.
Athol 45, Frontier 41 — Hope Parker had a huge second-half and Athol High School defeated Frontier Regional School, 45-41, in a Franklin County League North girls’ basketball game at Goodnow Gymnasium in South Deerfield.
Parker scored a game-high 23 points for the Red Raiders (5-10), including 9 of her team’s 11 points in the third quarter. She also used dribble-penetration to open things up for the rest of her teammates. Julia Carey added 10 points for Athol.
Ella Deane hit three 3-pointers to finish with 17 points in the loss, and Lisa Portier tossed in 13.
McCann Tech 51, Mohawk 48 — Allie Gibeau scored 15 points on Monday to help McCann Technical High School survive Mohawk Trail Regional High School, 51-48, in an independent girls’ basketball game in Buckland.
Aimee Dowling had 12 points for the Hornets.
Ashley Reynolds had a big night for Mohawk and led all players with 22 points. Emma Poplawski added 11 points, and Grace Poplawski finished with 8.
PV Christian 33, FC Tech 19 — Natalie Rayder scored 22 points to lead Pioneer Valley Christian Academy to a 33-19 win over Franklin County Technical School in a Tri-County League North Division girls’ basketball game Monday in Springfield.
Ashlee Townsley led the Eagles (5-11) with 6 points, Brooke Adams finished with 5, and Michelle Leh tossed in 4.