Greenfield cool under pressure

Perhaps calling it unthinkable might be a bit of an overstatement, but Greenfield High School did something few people would have predicted on Friday night.

And because of it, the Green Wave clinched at least a share of the Hampshire League North Division championship.

Sophomore Jake Sak came charging in out of nowhere, collecting an offensive rebound and putting up a shot all in one motion. As the buzzer sounded and regulation time expired, Sak was fouled on the play by Frontier’s Carsten Carey. With his team trailing by one point and a mere 0.3 seconds put back on the clock, Sak calmly sank both free throws to send Greenfield to an improbable 39-38 victory over the host Red Hawks in a wild HL North game at Goodnow Gymnasium in South Deerfield.

“Jake Sak; nothing but net,” lauded Greenfield coach Angelo Thomas of the game-winning free throws. “The place was rocking, and he didn’t even touch the rim.”

For Sak to even get in position to grab an offensive rebound was impressive. With Greenfield trailing 38-37 with one final opportunity, he fell to the ground while trying to set a screen on Frontier’s Alex Sharp. Hunter Campbell ultimately put up a deep 3-pointer for the Wave. Sak rose from the ground just around the 3-point line, and charged toward the rim to get in position for the rebound. Carey was whistled for the foul on the putback attempt, with the clock teetering on all zeroes.

“Whether that occurred after the buzzer or not, I’m not sure, but it was absolutely a foul,” Frontier coach Ben Barshefsky said of the final flurry. “It was a bang-bang play, and I thought the refs did a good job tonight.”

Greenfield (11-9, 6-2) led 17-13 at halftime in a grind-it-out, defensive slobber-knocker of a contest. Frontier snatched control in the third quarter, taking a 28-25 lead into the fourth quarter, but the Wave wouldn’t go away.

“We stuck to the game plan,” said Thomas. “We did get down in the second half, but mentally we stayed in it. We stayed mentally tough, and we pulled through.”

It was a much-different looking game than when the teams met the first time in Greenfield. In that game, Carey dominated and the Red Hawks cruised, 55-33. This time around, the Wave did a better job with its interior defense.

“They closed down on our bigs inside the lane much better than they did the first time around,” said Barshefsky of Greenfield. “Offensively, we were not playing as one unit, we were playing as five individuals. You play that way and you turn the ball over, you force things and you don’t get the looks you want.”

Carey led Frontier (16-3, 5-2) with 11 points, while Owen Morse followed with 10. Kalen Evans had 8 points and Peter Carey tossed in 6 for the Hawks, which must now beat Athol on Tuesday night to tie Greenfield for the league crown. A loss would give the Wave the outright championship.

“The league title is secondary,” Barshefsky said. “We want to be playing our best basketball as we roll into playoffs, and we are not right now. We have to come together as a team. That’s our only option. We had multiple defensive errors down the stretch. We missed a lot of open shots tonight, but much of that was due to Greenfield’s pressure in their zone.”

Greenfield was led offensively by Ryan Cote, who scored all 15 of his points in the second half. At one point, the freshman scored 12 points in a row for the Wave. Owen Phelps notched 8 points, while Sak finished with 5 and Mason Meadows tossed in 4.

“Everybody did something,” Thomas said of his club. “We just figured we were going to make it ugly and keep it below 40. Play as hard as we can against Carsten, and shade Morse and try to run him off the 3-point line. Energy and effort. That’s all it was. Energy and effort.”

As a result, Greenfield enters the postseason with wins in four of its final five games. And with a new addition to the Nichols Gymnasium wall as league champs.

“It’s great for the kids. Great for them. It’s all about them. I’m very happy for the seniors,” said Thomas. “It’s a great way to go into playoffs.”

Pioneer 80, Turners Falls 54 — For the first time since 2010, Pioneer is an outright league champion.

The host Panthers rode a balanced attack offensively, and charged out of halftime behind a 17-4 run to pull away for an 80-54 victory over Turners Falls that claimed the Hampshire League South Division regular-season crown Friday night at Messer Gymnasium in Northfield.

“It’s different now than it used to be because (the Hampshire League is) two divisions instead of one, but I told the guys, you still went out and beat the people on your schedule to win that league title,” Pioneer coach Scott Thayer said. “It does count for something.”

Pioneer improved to 16-3 overall, 7-0 in the South, securing the outright league title. Turners, which had its five-game winning streak halted, finished its regular season 11-9 overall, 5-3 in the South, and now awaits postseason seeding.

The Panthers showcased its full arsenal offensively. Senior point guard Garrett Cote orchestrated things at the point, finding teammates like Jared Hubbard, Troy Emond and Ryan Potter for open 3-pointers. All told, Pioneer connected on nine 3s in the win.

Turners did make a run late in the first half. Anthony Peterson and Tyler Lavin combined to score 24 points in the first half, and Lavin scored his team’s final seven points before intermission. The senior point guard hit back-to-back buckets in the final minute to get the visitors into the locker room down just 35-26.

But like they’ve been capable of all winter, Pioneer went on a quick-striking run offensively to open the third. Hubbard started things with a 3-pointer, while Ryan Underwood added a couple of key hoops. Cote drilled back-to-back 3’s, the latter extending the advantage to 52-30 and forcing Turners head coach Gary Mullins to call timeout. The 17-4 run to start the third took just 2:57, and essentially put the game out of reach.

“Give the kids credit, they were mentally tough to go through that, leave it in the past and move forward,” said Thayer of his team. “I’m proud of the second half, the way that we played.”

Zack Fox led Pioneer’s offense with 18 points, while Emond notched 16 points. Cote finished with 14 points, 10 assists, five steals and five rebounds, while Hubbard also notched 14 points. Underwood had 6 points and Potter added 5, and Blake Dobosz pulled down five rebounds.

Turners was without its second-leading scorer Chace Novak (14.9 ppg), who missed the regular-season finale with a knee injury.

“I feel for Gary because you always want to go to battle with all your guys and for us, you want to play people when they’re at full strength,” said Thayer. “He’s a quality player.”

Lavin led the Thunder with 20 points, followed by Peterson with 14 points. Ryan Campbell added 9 points and Jeremiah Russell tossed in 6. 

Pioneer, which honored its nine seniors prior to the game, has one more game before the postseason when it travels to play Hopkins Academy in the HL South finale Tuesday night at 7:30 p.m.

Smith Academy 76, Athol 44 — Jack Zigmont scored 30 points on Friday night and Smith Academy defeated Athol, 76-44, in a HL North boys basketball game at Mallett Gymnasium in Athol.

The Falcons (7-11, 4-3) need to beat Mohawk in their season finale Tuesday in Hatfield to finish to qualify for the postseason by the Sullivan Rule.

Brett Gratz added 20 points in the win, and Carter Woodward finished with 12 points.

Mark Ferrari paced the Red Raiders (2-16) with 14 points, and Riley Paine finished with 11 points. Nick Bousquet netted 9 points, and Gabe Lamarche finished with 5 points.

Baystate 81, FC Tech 30 — The injuries continued to pile up for Franklin Tech on Friday night as Jared Bergmann left the game early to become the third missing starter and the Eagles were dumped by Baystate Academy, 81-30, in a Tri-County League North Division game in Turners Falls.

Every player who dressed for Baystate scored a point with Desmond Ortiz leading the way with 26 points.

Bailey Young led Franklin Tech with 9 points, and Sim Maniatty netted 8.

Franklin Tech (7-10) must win its final three games to qualify for the postseason.

Pioneer 80, Turners 54

Turners (54)

Lavin 6-6—20, Campbell 4-1—9, Russell 2-2—6, Whiting 2-0—5, Peterson 6-2—14, Driscoll, Duclos. Totals 20-11–54.

Pioneer (80)

Emond 6-2—16, Hubbard 5-0—14, Potter 2-0—5, Fuller 1-0—2, Cote 6-0—14, Underwood 3-0—6, Fox 9-0—18, Curtis, Dobosz 1-0—2, Brown, Emberley 1-1—3. Totals: 34-3–80.

3-Point Goals: (TF) Lavin 2, Whiting. (P) Emond 2, Hubbard 4, Potter, Cote 2.

Score by quarters:

Greenfield 39, Frontier 38

Greenfield (39)

Phelps 3-1—8, Sak 0-5—5, Meadows 1-2—4, Campbell 1-0—2, Cote 6-0—15, Hart 1-1—3, Brewington 1-0—2, Zwart, Haselton. Totals 13-9–39.

Frontier (38)

Evans 4-0—8, P. Carey 2-1—6, Morse 3-3—10, Jones-Thomson 0-1—1, C. Carey 3-5—11, Walkowicz 1-0—2, Barrington, Sharp. Totals: 13-10–38.

3-Point Goals: (G) Cote 3, Phelps. (F) P. Carey, Morse.

Score by quarters:

Smith Academy 76, Athol 44

Smith Academy (76)

Gratz 7-4—20, Ferrara 3-0—7, Zigmont 11-4—30, Bartlett 2-1—5, Woodward 5-0—12, Marcinowski 1-0—2. Totals 29-9—76.

Athol (44)

King 0-4—4, Paine 4-0—11, Bousquet 4-0—9, Tarbell 0-1—1, Lamarche 2-0—5, Ferrari 5-2—14, Lutz, Pottinger, Heath Totals: 15-7—44.

3-Point Goals: (SA) Zigmont 4, Gratz 2, Ferrara, Woodward 2. (A) Paine 3, Ferrari, Bousquet, Lamarche.

Score by quarters:

Baystate Acad 81, FC Tech 30

Baystate Academy (81)

Jordan 6-2—15, Rodriguez 1-0—2, Rankin 4-0—8, Lopez 0-1—1, Ty. Rankin 2-2—6, Austin 1-0—2, Mayfield 3-1—7, Trye Jordan 3-0—6, Ortiz 10-6—26, Candaleria 1-0—2, Brown 2-2—6. Totals 33-15—81.

FC Tech (30)

Bergmann 1-0—2, Vielmetti-Perusse 1-1—4, Maniatty 3-1—8, McLaughlin 1-0—2, Young 4-1—9, Cole 1-3—5, Wozniak, Arsenault, Rosewarne. Totals: 11-7—30.

3-Point Goals: (M) . (FT) .

Score by quarters: