Frontier stuffs Green Wave

GREENFIELD — It may have been only the first step in a long journey, but Frontier Regional School played every bit like the team favored to win the Hampshire League North Division title and lay claim as the top boys basketball team in all of Franklin County this season on Thursday.

A dominant defensive performance and a relentless effort in the low post by its bigs helped the Red Hawks to a 55-33 win over Greenfield at Nichols Gymnasium.

Frontier won its fourth straight since losing its only game of the season to Wahconah on Dec. 15. Greenfield, meanwhile, had its three-game winning streak snapped.

“They’re a good team,” Greenfield coach Angelo Thomas said of Frontier. “They are going to be a tough out in Division 3. They have three kids — 6-5, 6-6, 6-7 — and they can stroke, rebound and they have some guards who can hit some shots. They are a tough team. They will be a tough out in Division 3.”

Many area coaches knew that Frontier was going to be a team to keep an eye on prior to the beginning of the season and the Red Hawks have not done anything to disappoint, starting the season 5-1 overall. The Hawks are led by their towers in the low post, brothers Carsten and Peter Carey. The brothers each stand around 6-7 and dominate in the paint on both ends of the floor. Carsten, a senior, came out and made his defensive presence felt right away as he blocked a shot on one of the Green Wave’s first trips down the court. And offensively, he finished with 22 points and double-digit rebounds.

Peter, meanwhile, is only a sophomore but plays much bigger. He is another shot-altering defender who can also get to the rim. He finished with 12 points against the Green Wave, which included a dunk, making him perhaps the first sophomore in recent memory to put one down in a game. Carsten said that playing with his brother continues to be a work in progress as they learn from one another.

“To have another guy my height on the court is great,” he began. “There is so much we can do. We are getting better every single day, cooperating, learning how to play off each other’s strengths, and bringing out the best in both of us.”

Frontier coach Ben Barshefsky said that his goal is to get the ball to his talented big men and let them create from there, something that he felt was done in spurts on Thursday, but not as often as he would still like.

“The key to our offense is getting it high post and when we move the ball well and create passing lanes off of pass-fakes, that allowed us to get the ball to the high post,” Barshefsky said. “And then when we were able to distribute effectively from there, I think that hurt them the most.”

Greenfield (3-2) came out and played scrappy and never let Frontier put it away until the fourth quarter. The Wave looked to play up-tempo, in order to avoid getting into a half-court set and allow the towering Frontier players to set up on defense. Greenfield took a quick 4-0 lead two minutes into the game. Carsten Carey answered a 3-pointer by Greenfield’s Danny Vega by getting the ball in the low post and laying it in as he was fouled. He drained the free throw to complete the three-point play and Frontier quickly cut the deficit to 4-3. That set off a run for the Red Hawks that saw Frontier outscore the Green Wave 15-0 to end the first quarter and take a 15-4 lead into the second.

Carey made it a 17-0 run with a quick basket in the second, but back-to-back 3-pointers from Owen Phelps and Mason Meadows saw the Wave climb back into it down 7. That would set up as the theme of the night. Every time it looked like Frontier might run away, the Green Wave was able to claw back just enough to hang around. Frontier held a 10-15 point lead for much of the night, but Greenfield did cut it down to single digits at one point in the third quarter.

“We talked the whole game about how this is part of the process and going through these growing pains when you play a good team like Frontier,’” Thomas said. “It’s a measuring stick. We play them the last game of the season and how much better are we going to get between now and Feb. 15. These kids practice hard. I have no beef with how hard they practice, but you can’t win games when you shoot 20 percent, and we did that tonight.”

 Owen Phelps led the Green Wave with 11 points in the loss, while Vega added 9. Mason Meadows and Hunter Campbell each chipped in 5 points.

Owen Morse had a nice game for Frontier with 10 points, Kalen Evans netted 5, and Alex Sharp chipped in 4.

Frontier hosts Athol on Monday, while Greenfield hosts Mohawk Saturday night at 5:30.

Frontier 55, Greenfield 33

Frontier (55)

C. Carey 7-8—22, P. Carey 6-0—12, Morse 4-0—10, Evans 2-0—5, Sharp 2-0—4, Gochinski 0-2—2, Nuerminger, Walkowicz, Boudreau, Jones-Thomson, Robinson, Felton-Emrick. Totals 21-10–55.

Greenfield (33)

Phelps 4-1—11, Vega 3-0—9, Meadows 2-0—5, Campbell 1-2—5, Brewington 0-1—1, Cardenales 1-0—2, Baird, Hart, Cote, Sak, Haselton. Totals: 11-4–33.

3-Point Goals: (F) Morse 2, Evans. (G) Vega 3, Phelps 2, Meadows, Campbell.

Score by quarters: