GREENFIELD — The winds of change were swirling inside Nichols Gymnasium Tuesday night.
On one side, the Greenfield girls basketball team was searching for consistency, and an identity after losing all-everything star Katie Haselton to graduation last year.
Across the way, visiting Pioneer was scrapping late, employing all 14 of its players to try and claw back into the thick of things while staying within striking distance against the Green Wave for the first time in years.
Greenfield won out in the end, as a 9-0 run midway through the fourth quarter created some separation and enabled the hosts to secure a 43-34 independent victory. Lillia Kachelmeyer led all scorers with 17 points in the win, while Azemina Cecunjanin and Tess Rancourt joined her in double figures with 10 points apiece.
Pioneer (0-1) didn’t make things easy on the Wave. Hailey Ring drilled a 3-pointer and Sofia Walker added a jumper to cut Greenfield’s lead to 30-24 with 5 minutes, 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter.
“I was a little disappointed in our effort,” Greenfield coach John Hickey said. “We weren’t giving 100 percent at times, particularly when things weren’t going our way. We’ll address that because that’s one thing we can control and that should never be an issue with this team.”
While the Panthers’ bench was alive down six, that would as close as the visitors got. The aforementioned 9-0 run sealed the deal for the Wave (1-1). Cecunjanin scored four points in the spurt, while Kachelmeyer hit a 3 and Rancourt also banked in a hoop to extend the advantage to 39-24 with 2:39 to play.
“To be in a close, end of game situation… those are only going to make us better, especially with a young team,” Pioneer coach Mike Churchill said. “To be in a game like this, giving a top-flight team like Greenfield a run for their money, I have no complaints.”
The game’s final two minutes took about 20 in real time. Pioneer was well below the foul threshold, meaning the squad had to give several fouls before Greenfield was in the bonus. The Panthers cut their defic it back to single digits when Laura Kahler sank a 3-pointer with 1:07 left, but Elderina Cecunjanin and Kachelmeyer each scored in the game’s final minute to counter Pioneer’s efforts.
The opening quarter didn’t provide much evidence that Tuesday’s contest was going to be particularly close. Greenfield’s trio of double-digit scorers accounted for all of the team’s points in the opening eight minutes, lifting the Wave to a 15-3 lead.
Pioneer didn’t pack it in however. A 9-3 run to open the second quarter had the visitors back within 18-12, with Ring scoring five and Walker chipping in the other four points. Greenfield was held scoreless for a span of 6 minutes, 2 seconds, though a 3-pointer in the final 10 seconds from senior Madyson Kuchieski helped the home side take a 23-12 lead into halftime.
“We’ll be inconsistent for a little while due to our lack of varsity experience,” offered Hickey.
Third-quarter jumpers from Ring, Walker and Brayleigh Burgh gave Pioneer a spark, and the deficit was 28-19 at the start of the fourth quarter before both teams made their mini runs that ultimately decided things.
“We have things to clean up but all-in-all, it was a good first effort for the kids and I think there’s a lot to take out of this one,” Churchill said.
Walker finished with a team-high 15 points and eight rebounds for the Panthers. Ring joined her in double figures with 12 points, and Whitney Dunklee pulled down six boards.
Both teams take to the road for action on Thursday night. Greenfield travels to play Mahar while Pioneer heads to Hatfield and a matchup with Smith Academy.