SOUTH DEERFIELD — A message on the back of Frontier Regional’s practice jerseys reads as follows:
“Don’t guard. Don’t play.”
The Red Hawks can score, as evidenced by the team’s 25-point third quarter against Smith Academy on Friday night, but the team’s success starts with its defense.
“Communicating, keeping our hands up, getting in passing lanes. They all make a difference when they add up,” Frontier’s Peter Carey said.
The Red Hawks turned defense into offense in a 69-36 win over Smith Academy.
Carey scored a game-high 19 points to lead the Red Hawks. Nathan Moynihan scored 15 points for the Falcons.
Frontier held the Falcons to four points in the second quarter. The 25-point burst in the third quarter gave the the Red Hawks a big enough cushion moving into the final quarter to seal the victory.
Smith Academy played loose on offense to open the game. Passes missed their marks and gave Frontier fast-break opportunities going the other way. The Red Hawks’ Donovan Hoffman played exceptional defense to help set the tone in the first quarter.
Frontier used a sporadic full-court press to put pressure on Smith Academy in the first half, but the Falcons cleaned up their passing problems as the game progressed and found ways to break the press with smart, patient passing.
Colin Ferrara got through Frontier’s half-court defense after breaking the press and scored with a layup to cut Frontier’s lead to 12-11 late in the first quarter.
The Red Hawks tried to get shots early in possessions by getting out on the break, but the team shifted to more of a set offense moving into the second quarter. Frontier’s Sean Richter, Owen Walkowicz and Carey played solid interior defense and each blocked a shot in the second quarter.
Midway through the frame, Richter blocked a shot on the defensive end and hit a 3-pointer on the other end to put the Red Hawks ahead, 21-13.
Then came the third quarter. Midway through, Hoffman hit back-to-back 3-pointers, then Walkowicz scored a layup while being fouled. After the three-point play, the Red Hawks led, 38-21.
“Offensively in the first half we did not have much organization at all,” Frontier coach Ben Barshefsky said. “We were cutting to occupy areas and we weren’t using our dribble to penetrate their extended zone. When we started to use the dribble and move to open spaces it created much better looks. We were getting the ball inside and out. The ball movement was much better all together.”
Both teams went back and forth following Hoffman’s 3-pointers, but turnovers plagued the Falcons and gave the Red Hawks easy opportunities on the offensive end.
“They amped up the pressure a little bit,” Smith Academy coach Matt Zerneri said. “We turned the ball over a few too many times. We aren’t that good offensively where we can go through scoring droughts and turn the ball over. We have to fight for everything we get. We have to work harder on that end of it.”
The Red Hawks defense allowed seven points in the final quarter. The fourth quarter was highlighted by a two-handed dunk by Carey, his second of the game. Carey also scored eight points during Frontier’s dominant third quarter.
“When (Carey) is not our focal point offensively, he is much better and the team is better as a whole,” Barshefsky said. “He is talented enough of a player that he will get his just within the normal flow of our offense.”
Carey, a junior, is the only returning starter from last year’s team that fell in the Western Massachusetts Division 2 semifinals. Through five games, the Red Hawks have started to grasp their roles while finding out what style of play works best for the team.
“Everyone is making improvements individually,” Carey said. “We are learning how each other plays. This group has never really played together before. We are getting a feel for each other. .. We are really trying to run the ball up the floor and push the intensity at all times.”