Panthers pillage Vikings in opener

NORTHFIELD — The halftime stat lines spoke volumes Monday night.

Jared Hubbard: 16 points.

Garrett Cote: 13 points.

Smith Vocational & Agricultural High School: 11 points.

Led by its backcourt tandem, the defending champions made quite an opening statement in their pursuit of another WMass title. No. 2 Pioneer stormed out to a 25-point lead after one quarter and never looked back in a convincing 73-35 victory over the 15th-seeded Vikings in a Div. 4 first round game at Messer Gymnasium.

The Panthers (18-3) advanced to Thursday night’s WMass Div. 4 quarterfinal round, where it will host No. 7 Baystate Academy (18-3), a 60-55 winner over 10th-seeded Lenox in first-round action Monday night. Tip-off is slated for 7 p.m. in Northfield.

“The energy and effort, attention to detail was there to begin the game,” offered Pioneer coach Scott Thayer of his team’s fast start. “It was the first tournament game for a lot of these young kids and they performed well for the most part, I thought.”

There was no postseason hangover, as Pioneer was off and running from the get-go against an overmatched Smith Voke squad. The Panthers rode the outside shooting of Hubbard and Cote, along with a ball-hawking defensive effort in their fullcourt press to take a 19-1 lead out of the gates before some fans had even settled into their seats.

The advantage continued late in the first half. Ryan Potter scored six straight points and buckets from Joel Emberley and Cote in the waning seconds of the opening period to lift the hosts ahead, 29-4, after one.

Smith Voke (10-11), which made just three field goals in the first half, pulled within 31-9 on a 3-pointer from Jayvon Cordova with 4:15 left in the second quarter. But the Panthers more than put things out of reach down the stretch. On the strength of a 17-2 run to close out the half, Pioneer used a combined 29 points before intermission from Hubbard and Cote to head into the locker room with a healthy 48-11 edge. The squad hit eight 3-pointers in the first half and finished with 10 for the night.

The Panthers led by as many as 52 points in the second half (69-17), before the Vikings used an 18-0 run in the fourth quarter to pull the final margin within 40 points.

Hubbard led all scorers with a career-high 19 points, as the freshman showcased his complete offensive game with four 3s in addition to some tough baskets in the lane. He also recorded five steals and four assists.

“He’s come a long way this season,” lauded Thayer of Hubbard. “If you get other kids like he and Troy (Emond) contributing, that makes it harder for teams to key on Garrett.”

Cote finished with 13 points, all in the first half before resting on the bench for most of the minutes after intermission, while dishing out eight assists. Potter made it three players in double figures for the hosts as he also scored 13 points, while Emond added 7 points. All told, 12 different Panthers scored points in the win, and Emberley pulled down a team-high nine rebounds to go with 4 points. Zack Fox and Ryan Underwood also tossed in 4 points apiece.

“For us, it’s going to come down to the defensive end of the floor,” Thayer said of his team going forward. “And rebounding. We aren’t going to have a size advantage against teams we play the rest of the way. You have to want to go out and get those rebounds. It’s going to take a high level of effort on our part to win those battles.”

One win away from returning to the Curry Hicks Cage for the second year in a row to play a semifinal game, Pioneer will have to get by a Baystate Academy team it did not face during the regular season.

“Every opponent gets tougher and tougher this time of year,” Thayer said. “We did the job all year in order to get home court through until the Cage. Our young guys play better at home so now we’ve got that opportunity to get back there.”

Cordova notched 11 points to pace Smith Voke, drilling a trio of 3-pointers on the night. Devin Rodriguez came off the bench and followed with 8 points, while Colin Earle and Jaxson Venne added 5 points each.

Pioneer 73, Smith Voke 35

Smith Voke (35)

Cordova 4-0—11, Earle 1-3—5, Rodriguez 3-0—8, Venne 2-1—5, Adorno 1-0—2, Pierce 2-0—4, Zink, Top, Boisvert, Minor, Rivera. Totals 13-4–35.

Pioneer (73)

Emond 2-2—7, Hubbard 7-1—19, Potter 4-3—13, Fuller 1-0—2, Cote 4-2—13, Underwood 2-0—4, Fox 2-0—4, Dobosz 1-0—2, Kane 0-1—1, Emberley 2-0—4, Brown 1-0—2, Breschner 0-2—2, Curtis. Totals: 26-11–73.

3-Point Goals: (SV) Cordova 3, Rodriguez 2. (P) Emond, Hubbard 4, Cote 3, Potter 2.

Score by quarters: