David Carey had it going for the Greenfield boys basketball team Monday on the road against Smith Academy. Carey scored a team-high 19 points, including four 3-pointers, to lead the Green Wave to a 69-36 victory in Hampshire League North action in Hatfield.
With the win, Greenfield (10-4, 4-1) qualified for the tournament for the second year in a row.
“This is the earliest we’ve qualified since 2013,” Wave coach Angelo Thomas said. “We’re very excited about it.”
Leading 35-14 at the half, Greenfield came out slow to start the third quarter, but Carey and Adams sparked the Wave and paved the path to victory.
“The third quarter has been our Achilles’ heel,” Thomas said. “We need to stay focused on what we need to do.”
Mason Meadows added 10 points for Greenfield, Maverick Ward added seven and Henry Zwart drilled a pair of 3’s. Gabe Larouche added a 3 to the cause.
Frontier 54, Mohawk 43 — The Warriors were looking to pull off the upset against the Red Hawks, who were playing without center Peter Carey, but a 21-point fourth quarter effort enabled Frontier to pull away and secure a 54-43 HL North win on the road.
Mohawk trailed just 23-21 at the half and 33-30 after three quarters before Frontier exploded in the final eight minutes of action.
“It was a tough battle all game,” Mohawk coach Darren Schmidt said. “It was back-and-forth until the fourth quarter. We fought hard and a lot of players did a lot of good things for us.”
Sean Richter lit up the gym for the Red Hawks (12-3, 5-0), scoring 22 points and knocking down big shots against the Warrior zone to earn his team the win.
Frontier’s Gabe Jones-Thomson, Donovan Hoffman and Colin Boudreau each had seven points in the win.
For Mohawk (1-14, 0-5), Reuben Bassett finished with 10 points, with Anthony Moffatt adding nine points, four rebounds and four assists.
Austin Sumner added in eight points and six rebounds in the loss.
Athol 68, Ludlow 55 — Riley Paine exploded in the second half, scoring 17 of his team-high 19 points in the final 16 minutes to propel the Red Raiders to a 68-55 independent win on Monday.
After a somewhat slow start on the offensive end, Athol picked it up on both ends of the floor in second half, outscoring the Lions 45-34 the rest of the way.
“Guys made plays,” Red Raider coach Dan Bevis said. “Defensively, we were aggressive and were able to turn it into offense on the other end.”
The Red Raiders (6-10) had three other players join Paine in double-figures, with Mark Ferrari adding in 15 points, Noah Pottinger scoring 11 points and Vincent Gordon finishing with 10 points.
Ferrari added eight rebounds in the win with Bryce King ending with seven points and eight assists.
■ In JV action, Dilan Fountain scored 18 points but Athol fell to Ludlow, 60-55.
Frontier 60, Mt. Everett 25 — The Eagles were able to keep it competitive with the Red Hawks through the first quarter, but Frontier blew the doors open from that point forward, outscoring Mt. Everett 47-15 the rest of the way en route to a 60-25 independent victory at Goodnow Gymnasium.
Amelia Sobieski led the way with 20 points for Frontier (11-4), scoring seven baskets and knocking down six shots from the free throw line.
Kaitlyn Mackin joined her in double-figures with 12 points while Meghan Self had eight points for the Red Hawks. Rebecca Bridwell and Marie Diemand each added in six points in the win.
Franklin Tech 44, PV Christian 15 — The Eagles went into Monday’s Tri-County League North contest down two starters due to illness, but multiple players stepped up to come away with a 44-15 victory.
Junior Gabby Castagna lit up the gym on the offensive end, scoring a game-high 19 points on eight field goals. Gemanaia Cruz dominated the paint, snatching 17 rebounds while scoring three points and dishing out four assists.
Emily Ryan grabbed 10 boards and swatted away six shots and Jocelyn Crowningshield dropped in eight points and snatched 10 steals for Franklin Tech (13-3, 6-0). Emily Merritt stepped up with five rebounds and Renee Reed grabbed four rebounds, stole two balls and dished out two assists in the win.