Greenfield High School’s “bigs” showed off their stuff on Wednesday night.
The trio of Molley Duclos, Samantha Smith and Elizabeth Howland combined to score 42 points and the Green Wave clobbered Southwick-Tolland Regional High School, 62-19, in an independent girls’ basketball game at Nichols Gymnasium in Greenfield.
The Green Wave (14-1) also used a huge defensive effort to handily beat a Rams team that entered the game 11-5 on the season.
“I think all cylinders are firing right now and we are playing well as a team on both ends of the floor,” Green Wave coach John Hickey said. “I’m happy the way things are going, and we need to keep plugging away in practice.”
Southwick never scored more than 6 points in any quarter in the loss as the Green Wave defense used pressure to make life difficult.
“We created a lot of turnovers,” Hickey stated. “If we didn’t get steals, we were forcing them to travel or throw bad passes. I think our defensive pressure always dictates the other team’s offense.”
McKinley White scored 8 points to lead Southwick, while no other player topped 3 points.
Greenfield, meanwhile, was paced by its post players. Duclos led the way with 16 points, Smith scored 14 points, and Howland netted 12. Raegan Hickey finished with 5 points but had 12 assists, and Jenna Silk and Katie Haselton each finished with 5 points.
“I think we utilized our size differential tonight and got the ball down low and were able to take advantage of some size mismatches,” Hickey said.
Greenfield hosts Pioneer Valley Regional School on Friday.
Frontier 60, Turners 52 — Trevor Gilmore scored 10 of his career-high 16 points in the fourth quarter and Frontier Regional School outscored Turners Falls High School, 25-15, in the final frame to pull off a 60-52 upset win in Hampshire League boys’ basketball action Wednesday night at Goodnow Gymnasium in South Deerfield.
The Red Hawks (6-11) suffered a 67-37 loss to the Indians one month ago but used a much stronger defensive effort to turn the tide the second time around. Coach Ben Barshefsky said that his players did a nice job adjusting on defense from the first meeting with Turners Falls this season.
“The last time we played them, we were turning our backs to the men we were responsible for, and we were losing guys left and right,” he said. “Tonight, they did a better job of keeping their backs to the baseline and seeing both man and ball.”
The Indians (10-5) took a 37-35 lead into the fourth quarter but Frontier began knocking down more shots, according to Barshefsky, leading to the 25-point outburst.
“The guys buckled down on defense and we made open shots. It’s as simple as that,” Barshefsky said of the fourth. “We’ve had some games all season long where shots just haven’t fallen, and they’ve been good shots. Tonight, the guys did a good job closing out the game.”
While Gilmore led the offense, he was one of three players in double figures, joined by Carsten Carey, who scored 14, and Myles Freeman, who scored 12. Keaton Warren added 8 points and Jared Muzyka chipped in 6.
Tyler Lavin and Jimmy Vaughn each scored 15 points to lead Turners Falls. Tionne Brown, who scored 21 points in the first meeting of the season, was held to a more reasonable 12, and Ricky Craver, who scored 15 in the first meeting, was held to 2.
FC Tech 65, Hampden Charter 56 — Franklin County Technical School got a solid effort from each of its six players and managed to win its fifth consecutive game and get its best victory of the season, 65-56 over Hampden Charter School in a Tri-County League boys’ basketball game Wednesday night in Turners Falls.
The Eagles (11-6) led 35-27 at halftime and managed to grow the lead to as large as 19 points in the second half before Hampden Charter closed the gap a bit late. What continues to make the Eagles’ recent surge impressive is the fact that it has just six players on the varsity roster, which means heavy minutes for all. Coach Matt Llewelyn said he was pleased the way everyone got in on the act on Wednesday, especially when the team got in a bit of foul trouble late.
“The boxscore is not just one-sided, but everyone got in on it,” he said. “And our defense did very well to hold Hampden Charter to only 56 points. We only have two wins against tournament teams, and Hampden Charter is a very good opponent, so this was a great win for us.”
Colin Gould scored 23 points to pace the Eagles’ offense, while Joel Farrick scored 19 points, and Corey Johnson added 13 points. Garrett Cole tossed in 6, and Tyler Hastings chipped in 4.
Sam Monette led Hampden Charter with 21 points. Justin Rodriguez finished with 15.
Greenfield 77, Athol 38 — Kevin Mendez scored 22 points and Greenfield defeated Athol High School, 77-38, in a HL boys’ basketball game Wednesday night in Athol.
The Green Wave led 21-5 after the first quarter and 47-16 at the break.
All 10 players who played for the Wave scored. Adam Phelps and Tyler Boissonneault each had 11 points, and Zack Avery finished with 8. Connor Joy scored 6 points, and Hunter Campbell and Colin Cloutier each added 5 points.
Justin Blake led Athol with 9 points, Evan Saisa scored 8 points, Parker Deleo finished with 7 points, and Angel Rivera finished with 6.
Mahar 81, Smith Academy 34 — Bryce Cleveland finished with 16 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists and Mahar Regional School cruised past Smith Academy, 81-34, in a HL boys’ basketball game Wednesday night in Orange.
Sam Paul finished with 15 points, 4 assists and 4 steals for the Senators (14-2), and Gabe O’Lari had a double-double with 12 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals. Quinn Gervais scored 10 points, Issak Reinikainen added 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists, and Jack Temple had 8 points and 9 rebounds.
Jack Zigmont had 8 points to lead Smith Academy.