It couldn’t have been a more heart-wrenching ending for the Turners Falls girls basketball team on Thursday night in Springfield. 

The Thunder trailed Putnam 37-36 with 6.5 seconds left in the game, but had possession of the ball inbounding on their own side of the court. 

Taylor Greene hit Madison Liimatainen on the run, who dribbled to the rim and got off a shot. Liimatainen was bumped into, but no foul was called. Steph Peterson grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back up but missed with just under three seconds remaining. Turners had a third opportunity, as Lily Spera grabbed it and put it up from a few feet out as the buzzer sounded. 

The ball hit off the front rim, then the back rim, then the side rim before bouncing out, dropping the Thunder to 0-4 on the season with a 37-36 Franklin County League South Division loss.

“It was one of the most exciting games I’ve ever coached,” Turners coach Ed Marvell said. 

The Thunder were in the game despite being without leading scorer Dabney Rollins, who hurt her knee Wednesday night against Lee and did not play.

Trailing 26-13 at the half, Turners turned it up a notch in the final 16 minutes of action, outscoring the Beavers, 23-11. 

Spera and Greene led Turners with nine points apiece, while Eliza Johnson dropped in six points.

McCann Tech 45, Mohawk 29 — The Warriors once again put forth a great effort on the defensive end, but struggled offensively. Mohawk didn’t register a point in the first quarter resulting in a 45-29 loss to the Hornets in FCL West action on the road, Thursday in North Adams. 

Stella Clark led the way for the Warriors, scoring 16 points on seven field goals. Grace Poplawski joined her in double-figures with 11 points and Mya Lesieur added a basket. 

No other Mohawk players were able to put points on the scoreboard. 

Boys Basketball

Hampshire 45, Mohawk 29 — A slow start did the Warrior boys team in on Thursday in Buckland, with Mohawk scoring just seven first-half points. That resulted in a 45-29 independent loss to the Red Raiders. 

While the Warriors couldn’t get anything in the basket in the first 16 minutes of play, Hampshire was building a lead, storming out to a 25-7 lead at the half. 

Mohawk fought its way back into the game, but it was too late to mount a comeback.

Justin Forest was the game’s leading scorer with 30 points for the Red Raiders. Tyler Dubreuil had nine points to lead the Warriors while Matt Pollen had seven. 

Hampshire had the clear advantage at the charity stripe, shooting 20 free throws and knocking down 13. Mohawk got to the line just 12 times. 

Middle schools

Colby Goodwin’s nine points propelled the Athol-Royalston Middle School boys basketball team past Hopkins Academy on Thursday at home, 37-20. 

Angel Castillo added five points in the win while Jamieson Vincent, Ethan Bacigalupo, Ben Kearney and Logan Cormier each chipped in four points. 

• The Athol-Royalston middle school girls basketball team also earned a win on Thursday, defeating Hopkins 35-22. 

Lizzy Mailloux led the team with eight points, Jenna Bonenfant added seven points and Anna Duquette chipped in six points. 

Maddy Watt and Allison Robertson had strong games on the defensive end in the win.