GREENFIELD — There was no Western Mass. tournament hangover for the Greenfield boys basketball team.
The Green Wave rebounded nicely from Monday’s Class C quarterfinal loss to Lenox. Less than 48 hours later, in a rare Wednesday matinee at Nichols Gymnasium, Greenfield made its case for a top 16 seed and a home game in the upcoming MIAA Division 5 Tournament via an 84-54 victory over Palmer in a non-playoff game.
“These kids knew the importance of this game,” Greenfield coach Angelo Thomas said.
That importance involves the statewide tournament. According to the Boston Globe, Greenfield (10-10) was the No. 17 seed in the field entering Wednesday’s game — the Wave fell one spot after Monday’s loss to Lenox, down from 16. With the win over Palmer, Thomas hopes his club can inch back into the top 16, which guarantees a home game in the Round of 32. One spot can mean the difference between a two-hour bus trip and a raucous Nichols Gymnasium environment.
The brackets and final state rankings are expected to be released on Friday.
“We’ve been hovering around that 16, 17 line so I can tell you, we’d rather not go to Salem,” Thomas said of a trip to play a potential road game.
David Carey poured in 28 points for the Wave, including a five 3-pointers. Greenfield led 17-9 after one quarter and 41-27 at halftime, before an early third-quarter run, highlighted by a Brendan Driscoll 3-pointer and a runner from Alex Carballo, extended the advantage to 61-43. The Wave closed things out with a decisive 25-11 edge in the final period for the 30-point win.
Freshmen Caleb Murray and Jon Breor each went for 12 points in the win. Thomas said the youngsters have been pivotal to the team’s success this winter, and that will certainly be the case come the state tournament.
“I do put a lot of pressure on those two freshmen because kind of how they’ve gone is how we’ve gone this year,” Thomas explained. “I know what David Carey is going to give me, I know what some of the upperclassmen will do. If those two have big games, we’re a team that can be very tough to beat.”
Frontier 62, South Hadley 59 — A battle of teams looking to secure home-court advantage in the MIAA Division 4 field went the way of the Redhawks on Wednesday.
Joe Thomson went for 19 points and Dylan Martin drained five 3’s en route to a 15-point outing as Frontier held off South Hadley, 62-59, in non-playoff action at Goodnow Gymnasium.
“The thought always crosses your mind of games being trap games,” said Frontier coach Ben Barshefsky, whose team fell to Monument Mountain on Monday in the Class B quarters. “After coming off such an emotional loss at Monument Mountain, I was a little worried but we really did step onto the court and the guys were ready to play from the opening tip.”
Frontier outscored South Hadley 20-16 in the fourth to score the win. Iain Spearance tossed in 10 points for the Hawks, while Barshefsky lauded the play of Dante Ruggiano, Danny Fellows and Sam Schreiber off the bench.
“They gave some great minutes. They were definitely a contributing factor,” he said.
Pioneer 52, Smith Academy 37 — Second quarter defense propelled the Panthers to a non-playoff win Wednesday night.
Host Pioneer outscored the Falcons by a 22-3 margin in the second quarter, turning a tied game into a lopsided victory at Messer Gymnasium.
“The volcano sort of erupted,” Pioneer coach Scott Thayer said. “I think Jalen (McGraw), Jayden (Fox) and Jared (Hubbard) set the tone defensively and we went back to what we usually do — we pressed and we played. Defensively, the second and third quarters were fun to watch.”
Pioneer (10-10) led 34-15 at halftime after the teams played to an even 12-12 opening quarter. The Panthers all but assuredly locked up a top 16 seed and a home game in the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament with the win.
Brayden Thayer led the way offensively with 15 points, coming via five 3-pointers, and dished out five assists to go with three rebounds. McGraw put up 10 points and five boards, while Alex McClelland scored all nine of his points during the second quarter run. Josh Wood and Hubbard tossed in eight points apiece, with Hubbard registering five assists.
Duggan 46, Turners Falls 40 — One night removed from its first win of the season, Turners Falls nearly got another one in season-finale action Wednesday in Springfield.
Host Duggan rallied from a 37-31 deficit in the final few minutes, closing the game on a 15-3 run to score a 46-40 non-playoff win.
Turners trailed 17-6 after one quarter before flipping the script and outscoring the hosts by a 25-9 margin over the second and third quarters. Branden Truesdell went for 15 points, including three 3-pointers, while Levin Prondecki added 10 points and nine rebounds. Alex Quesada tossed in nine points and pulled down 14 boards, while JJ Charles chipped in six points.
Renaissance 68, Athol 58 — Vinny Gordon led Athol with 16 points, while Conall Tontodonato (14 points) and Beau Manning (13) joined him in double figures in a tight road loss on Wednesday in Springfield.
Franklin Tech 51, St. Mary’s 44 — On the road in Westfield, the Eagles scored a key victory to bolster their state tournament resume on Wednesday night.
Franklin Tech overcame a shaky second quarter, where it was outscored 20-4, and played a strong second half to upend St. Mary’s, 51-44, in non-playoff action.
Both teams are state tournament bound, and Franklin Tech still has the state vocational tournament ahead this weekend before the MIAA tourney opens up next week.
“The kids from both teams attacked it the right way,” Tech coach Joe Gamache said of Wednesday’s game. “Both attacked it as if it was a postseason game.”
Hannah Gilbert’s double-double of 12 points, 12 rebounds powered the Eagles, while Kate Trudeau paced the scoring effort with 16 points. Kendra Campbell (10 points), Lea Chapman (nine points, 16 boards) and Emily Merritt (four points, seven boards) were other key contributors in the victory.
Franklin Tech will host Minuteman Regional in the MVADA Small School semifinals on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Frontier 61, Easthampton 49 — Kylie Laford’s big night lifted the Redhawks to a nice resume-building victory on Wednesday.
Laford went for 26 points, drilling five 3-pointers in the process, and Frontier snagged a nice 61-49 win over Easthampton on the road.
Kaitlyn Mackin went for 12 points for the Hawks, which could move up a bit in the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament rankings thanks to this victory. Hailey Hutkoski added 10 points for the visitors.
Mahar 45, Smith Voc 24 — A triple-double from Kendrah Doane enabled the Senators to close their season in winning fashion.
Doane went for 26 points, 14 rebounds and 11 steals, helping Mahar roll past the Vikings in a non-playoff game Wednesday in Orange.
Other scorers for the Sens included Hayden Comeau (eight points), Natalie Belloli (seven), Nevaeh Scribner (two) and Sophia Woods (two).
Athol 41, PV Christian 38 — Trailing by two points entering the final quarter, Emma Bacigalupo and the Bears sprung to life.
Bacigalupo scored nine of her team-high 15 points in the final eight minutes, helping Athol score a season-ending 41-38 win over Pioneer Valley Christian Academy on Wednesday.
Athol’s offense was balanced behind Bacigalupo, with the Bears receiving six points apiece from Lizzy Mailloux, Reily Polana and Jenna Bonenfant. Abby Lutz, Christa Cucchi, Brooke Hopkins and Sammy Mailloux all chipped in two points.
Mohawk Trail 42, Ludlow 29 — Locked in a one-point game entering the fourth quarter, the Warriors’ defense locked things down in a hurry.
Clinging to a 28-27 lead after three quarters, Mohawk Trail outscored visiting Ludlow by a 14-2 margin over the final eight minutes to pull away for an impressive 42-29 season-ending victory Wednesday in Buckland.
Octavia Crawford led all scorers with 14 points, including a trio of 3-pointers in the second half. Stella Clark scored 10 of her 12 points in the second half for Mohawk Trail, while Rachel Pease went for nine points and Mya Lesieur added seven points, including four in the fourth quarter.
Ludlow led 21-16 at halftime thanks to a big second quarter, but the Warriors allowed just six points in the third and two in the fourth in a standout defensive effort.
Hopkins 52, Greenfield 31 — Azemina Cecunjanin had 20 of Greenfield’s 31 points in a season-finale road loss to Hopkins on Wednesday in Hadley.
Mackensie Goncalves and Anna Bucala added four points apiece for the Wave, while Elderina Cecunjanin drilled a 3-pointer.