BUCKLAND — After tying for second place in the Hampshire League North Division, last year’s Greenfield High School boys basketball team earned a spot in the WMass Div. 3 Tournament with a sub .500 record.
Fast forward a year, and the Green Wave are dancing the old-fashioned way.
Mason Meadows scored 18 points and Owen Phelps poured in 17, helping Greenfield pick up magic win No. 10 on Wednesday night. The visiting Wave punched its postseason ticket behind a 59-37 victory over Mohawk.
“It feels great for the program, great for these seniors, great for these up-and-coming kids and everyone else all the way down to the elementary school kids that come to the games and follow the team,” began first-year Greenfield coach Angelo Thomas. “To get 10 (wins) to get in, we haven’t had this many wins in five or six years. It’s awesome. We haven’t played our best game of the season yet, so maybe we’ve still got that left for one of these big ones coming up.”
Greenfield (10-9, 5-2 HL) reached the double-digit win mark for the first time since the 2013-14 season. The program’s postseason drought ended last year, when they went 7-13 but were HL North runners-up, earning an automatic bid. This time around, Thomas said his club didn’t want to leave anything to chance, especially because Mohawk (5-13, 2-4) also had an outside shot at getting into the tournament as league runner-up.
“It’s tough to go up there and play at Mohawk, especially with what was on the line in an important game,” Thomas said. “(Mohawk was) battling to get into the tournament as well. But I thought the energy from our guys was there for the most part.”
The Warriors, which were officially eliminated from postseason consideration with the loss, would’ve clinched a tournament bid if they had won their final three games.
“From where we were coming into this season, having the opportunity to still get into the tournament with three games left. … you’ve got to give these guys a lot of credit,” lauded first-year Mohawk head coach Darren Schmidt of his team.
Greenfield rode a swarming defensive effort to victory on Wednesday night. The Green Wave threw the kitchen sink at Mohawk defensively, toggling through a variety of different looks that led to several costly turnovers. After pulling within 11-9 with 2:57 left in the first quarter after a Jackson Hicks bucket, the Warriors were held to just two field goals over the final 10:57 of the half. Meadows did the job offensively in the first half, scoring 15 points before the break in helping the Wave to a 30-15 lead at intermission.
“This time of year, you’ve got to throw everything at anybody you’re playing right now,” began Thomas of the defensive effort. “We did everything. We threw full-court, three-quarters court, half-court, pretty much everything but zone. If we have good energy and good effort, we can play and stay with anybody.”
Schmidt said his team struggled from the field in the first half, which snowballed a bit after the Warriors fell behind by double digits.
“At key points in the first half, we missed some easy shots and that kind of stifled us,” the Mohawk coach offered. “Greenfield worked hard. They play a high-pressure defense and that, combined with us not making many shots was a killer.”
Owen Cross scored six straight points for the Warriors in the third quarter, and the hosts pulled within 41-27 after Reuben Bassett’s 3-pointer late in the frame. But Phelps did it at both ends of the floor, forcing turnovers on defense and converting tough hoops in traffic on offense. The senior guard notched 13 of his 17 in the second half to help Greenfield pull away down the stretch.
“Owen’s been our rock star all season, our MVP all season, and he played like it tonight,” explained Thomas of Phelps. “We have him playing point guard and that’s not his natural position but he’s a steady force right now. It was good to see him go out tonight as a senior and put together that performance. Wherever we go, he has to be a big part of it.”
Hunter Campbell made it three Wave players in double figures, as the senior added 11 points — eight in the second half. Ryan Cote tossed in 6 points and Kenny Adams added 4.
Hicks registered a team-high 18 points in his final Mohawk home game, as the senior class of Hicks, Will Guyette and Josh Matthews were honored prior to tip-off. Hicks, the team’s leading scorer with 9.7 points per game, has played well down the stretch. Wednesday’s outing was his sixth double-digit scoring output in his last seven games, and 10th overall this winter. Cross totaled 7 points — all in the second half — while Bassett and Shawn Davenport added 4 points apiece.
Mohawk closes its regular-season slate next week with away games at Athol (Monday) and Smith Academy (Tuesday).
Greenfield now sets its focus to a huge game Friday night. The Green Wave head to Frontier (16-2, 5-1) with the HL North league title up for grabs in South Deerfield (7:30 p.m.). The Red Hawks won the first matchup in Greenfield, 55-33, back on Jan. 3.
“A league championship is nothing to shake a stick at so we’re going to go at it hard,” Thomas said. “We going to start preparing tomorrow and we’re going to prepare to win. That’s how we attack every game, this one is no different.”
Greenfield 59, Mohawk 37
Greenfield (59)
Campbell 5-0—11, Meadows 6-6—18, Phelps 8-0—17, Adams 1-1—4, Cote 1-4—6, Vega 0-1—1, Baird 0-1—1, Brewington 0-1—1, Zwart, Haselton, Avery, Hart. Totals 21-14—59.
Mohawk (37)
Davenport 2-0—4, Hicks 7-4—18, Guyette 0-1—1, Bassett 1-1—4, Dubreuil 1-0—2, Cross 3-1—7, Lococo 0-1—1, Moffatt, Matthews, Sumner. Totals: 14-8—37.
3-Point Goals: (G) Campbell, Phelps, Adams. (M) Bassett.
Score by quarters:
|
Greenfield |
17 |
13 |
13 |
16 |
— |
59 |
|
Mohawk |
10 |
5 |
12 |
10 |
— |
37 |