Hopkins tops Thomas, Green Wave

It was not the way Angelo Thomas wanted to come out against his former team. The first-year Greenfield High School boys basketball coach faced his former Hopkins Academy team for the first time on Wednesday night but the Green Wave came out flat and fell into a 28-2 hole after one quarter and was never able to fully climb out during a 61-47 loss in an independent game at Nichols Gymnasium in Greenfield.

Caleb Graves scored 14 of his game-high 20 points in the first quarter as the Golden Hawks came out on fire and put the host Wave into a 26-point hole after eight minutes.

“They just came out ready to play and wanted it more than we did from the get-go,” Thomas said. “It’s just a tough hole to dig out of.”

Thomas said that getting his team to come out with confidence has been an issue this season.

“I’m trying to get them confident of what they can do from the get-go,” he explained. “It’s about understanding what they can do. It’s confidence. They have to be confident from the get-go.”

Greenfield dug in and cut the deficit down to six points in the third quarter and again in the fourth but was never able to close the gap. Thomas said that losing to his former team — a team he helped guide to three of the past four WMass Division 4 titles — did not hurt any more than any other loss.

“For me, it’s a game,” he said. “Whoever the opponent is, we’re trying to win. It just happened to be Hopkins tonight.”

Andrew Ciaglo finished with 18 points for Hopkins (6-6).

Julius Brewington led the Green Wave (6-4) with 11 points, and Hunter Campbell added 9 points. Owen Phelps chipped in 6 points, while Nate Haselton and Ryan Cote each notched 5 points.

Girls basketball

Greenfield 56, Mohawk 30 — Raegan Hickey’s 3-pointer with 6 minutes, 6 seconds remaining in the second quarter Wednesday night made her the all-time leading scorer in Greenfield girls basketball history. The senior point guard finished with 13 points, giving her a total of 1,340 to move past Ann Brissette (1,333), in the visiting Green Wave’s 56-30 independent girls basketball victory over Mohawk in Buckland.

Samantha Smith led all scorers with 19 points for Greenfield, which qualified for the postseason after improving to 10-1 overall. Katie Haselton notched 9 points, while Racquel Provost added 5 points in the victory.

Greenfield jumped out to an 18-7 lead after one and a 35-9 halftime advantage. Hickey scored all 13 of her points in the first half.

Mohawk (3-8) received a team-high 15 points from Grace Poplawski. Grace Ward had 8 points and another solid outing inside with 21 rebounds and five blocks. Ashley Reynolds tossed in 4 points.

Mahar 60, Palmer 55 — Courtney Page’s big night off the bench powered Mahar to an impressive come-from-behind victory Wednesday night.

The junior center scored 12 points and registered six blocks, providing a spark to help the Senators erase a nine-point second-half deficit and past Palmer, 60-55, in an independent girls basketball game in Orange.

“It was the biggest win of the season for us,” said Mahar coach Larry Fisher. “Hopefully we can work off this and go moving forward. It was Courtney’s best game of her career. She really gave us a spark off the bench.”

Micalyn Mailloux’s 15 points paced the Senators (6-4), which trailed 39-38 entering the fourth quarter but put up 22 points in the final frame. Tori Tenney went for 9 points, Jazmyn Vautour had 8 points and nine rebounds, Abby Bonk scored 8 points and Delaney Parker added 7 points in a well-balanced offensive attack for the hosts.

“We slowed the ball down the last three minutes, got things under control and made some foul shots down the stretch,” said Fisher, whose team turned the ball over just twice in the second half.

Jillian Lombardi led Palmer (4-6) with 14 points.

Mahar heads to Smith Academy Tuesday night.

Putnam 43, Pioneer 42 — Host Putnam held Pioneer to just two points in the final quarter, coming from behind for a 43-42 victory in a FCL South girls basketball game Wednesday night in Springfield.

“The girls played their most physical game all season and came up short in the final seconds,” said Pioneer head coach Meg Burrington. “I couldn’t be more proud of the intensity that every player brought. Division 4 teams are stepping up their game and there aren’t any easy games anymore.” 

Pioneer (5-5, 2-2) put up 21 points in the second quarter to take a 26-23 halftime lead. The advantage grew to 40-31 entering the fourth quarter, but Putnam (8-2, 3-1) outscored the Panthers by a 12-2 margin in the final stanza to steal the home win.

Sophomore Paige Loughman led all scorers with 18 points for Pioneer. Olivia Rowe dropped 14 points to go with 17 rebounds and five blocks, while Steph Scoville pulled down eight boards and dished out five assists in addition to 3 points. Alina Cecunjanin added 4 points.

Pioneer hosts Easthampton Friday night in an independent game.

Ware 50, Frontier 40 — Ware outscored Frontier, 20-3, in the fourth quarter to storm back against the Red Hawks and take a 50-40 victory Wednesday at Goodnow Gymnasium in Greenfield.

Frontier (4-5) led 37-30 entering the fourth quarter but struggled in the final eight minutes as the offense came to a screeching halt.

“We started creating unforced turnovers,” Frontier coach Rick Recore said. “Unfortunately, we could not close out and defend, and our rebounding greatly impacted the remainder of the game. We gave Ware second and third opportunities on the glass and they converted.”

Aidyn Welsh led Ware with 15 points.

Amelia Sobieski scored 14 points in the first half and wound up with 18 points for the game to go along with 11 rebounds. Olivia Deane added 11 points.

Hopkins 61, Greenfield 47

Hopkins (61)

Waldron 2-0—6, Beck 2-0—5, Ciaglo 5-6—18, Phiffer 1-0—2, Graves 5-8—20, Tudryn 2-4—8, Antes 1-0—2. Totals 18-18–61.

Greenfield (47)

Haselton 1-2—5, Phelps 2-2—6, Sak 1-0—3, Meadows 0-2—2, Campbell 3-1—9, Cote 1-2—5, Hart 2-0—4, Brewington 3-5—11, Baird 0-2—2, Cardenales, Avery, Adams, Vega. Totals: 13-16–47.

3-Point Goals: (H) Waldron 2, Beck, Ciaglo 2, Graves 2. (G) Haselton, Sak, Campbell 2, Cote.

Score by quarters:

GIRLS GAMES

Greenfield 56, Mohawk 30

Greenfield (56)

Rivera 1-0—2, Provost 2-0—5, Kuchieski 1-0—3, Haselton 3-3—9, Hickey 5-1—13, Joy 1-0—2, Reed, Smith 8-3—19, Richardson, Pruitt-Dahl 1-0—3. Totals 22-7–56.

Mohawk (30)

Lesieur, Ward 3-2—8, Taylor 1-0—2, Allen, Clark, Crawford, Poplawski 6-2—15, Reynolds 2-0—4, Rancourt 0-1—1.. Totals: 12-5–30.

3-Point Goals: (G) Kuchieski, Haselton, Hickey 2, Pruitt-Dahl. (M) Poplawski.

Score by quarters:

Mahar 60, Palmer 55

Palmer (55)

Cole 4-1—13, Lombardi 5-3—14, Theriault 4-1—9, Bigos 2-0—6, Mega 1-0—2, Wilson 4-3—11. Totals 20-8–55.

Mahar (60)

Parker 2-1—7, Tenney 3-3—9, Mailloux 5-5—15, Page 5-1—12, Bonk 2-2—8, Vautour 3-1—8, Graeff 0-1—1, Davis, Apteker, Prescott, Fournier. Totals: 20-14–60.

3-Point Goals: (P) Cole 4, Lombardi, Bigos 2. (M) Parker 2, Bonk 2, Page, Vautour.

Score by quarters:

Ware 50, Frontier 40

Ware (50)

Vadnais 1-1—3, Welsh 4-6—15, L. Orszulak 3-1—7, LaVallee 3-0—6, Tweedie 3-1—7, Burke 3-2—8, C. Orszualek 1-2—4. Totals 18-13–50.

Frontier (40)

Walker 1-0—2, Mackin 1-0—3, Sobieski 8-2—18, Doulette 0-1—1, Deane 4-2—11, Diemand 1-3—5, Fuller, King, Roberts. Totals: 15-8–40.

3-Point Goals: (W) Welsh. (F) Mackin, Deane.

Score by quarters:

Putnam 43, Pioneer 42

Pioneer (42)

Tibbetts 1-0—2, Loughman 6-6—18, Scoville 1-1—3, Rowe 7-0—14, Flagg 0-1—1, Cecunjanin 2-0—4, Ellis, Briggs, Kahler. Totals 17-8–42.

Putnam (43)

Rosado 1-0—2, Ramirez 2-0—4, Harris 4-2—11, Sullivan 5-1—11, Bethea 3-0—6, Rivera 1-0—2, Rodriguez 3-1—7. Totals: 19-4–43.

3-Point Goals: (Pio) none. (Put) Harris.

Score by quarters: