SPRINGFIELD — Looking to spring a road upset and advance to the state quarterfinals on Wednesday night, Pioneer boys basketball coach Scott Thayer wanted his team to prevent sizable scoring runs.
The Panthers boys survived their first punch in the mouth Wednesday night. They even led at halftime and deep into the third quarter. But Travis Jordan and No. 2 Baystate Academy just couldn’t miss in the second half.
Jordan ripped off 23 of his game-high 35 points in the second half, including back-to-back dagger 3-pointers early in the fourth quarter that put things out of reach. The host Bulls wound up outscoring No. 15 Pioneer 47-26 after intermission to pull away for an 81-63 victory in an MIAA Division 5 Round of 16 game played at Sci-Tech.
“Everything worked,” began Thayer of his team’s game plan. “But they shot the lights out on us.”
The Panthers had the tempo to their liking for the first half and most of the third quarter. They led 37-34 at halftime and 42-40 with 2 minutes, 59 seconds left in the third quarter on a Jalen McGraw bucket.
Streaky Baystate (16-4) caught fire from there however, led by their star guard. Jordan gave the Bulls their first lead since the second quarter with a 3 on the ensuing possession, jump-starting what ultimately turned into a 20-6 run that carried into the fourth and put the hosts up 60-48.
“We got through the first half, even though some things didn’t go our way, and then it was time to go,” Baystate head coach Dion Byrd Sr. said. “We always say that if we’re within 10 points of a team, we’re OK. We shot the ball pretty well in the second half.”
Pioneer didn’t go quietly into the night. Jayden Fox, who scored a team-high 19 points in his final game with the program, sank a layup and McGraw (8 points) followed with a bucket of his own to cut the deficit to 60-52 with 6:18 to play.
But Jordan had an answer. He drained back-to-back 3-pointers, the first a step back variety with the shot clock about to expire and the second a little stutter step triple, re-establishing a double-digit advantage that Pioneer was never able to cut back into.
“That first corner 3 there, what are you gonna do?” Thayer offered. “We had to give some things up and challenged them to make some difficult shots. If they’re gonna make ’em, they’re gonna make ’em. And they made them.”
It didn’t exactly look promising for the Panthers from jump street, making the fact they were very much in the game until the fourth quarter all the more impressive. Baystate blitzed Pioneer quickly, storming out to a 10-2 lead less than two minutes into the first quarter thanks to a ball-hawking, full-court pressing defense which forced turnovers that led to easy buckets.
“We talked all week about it. How would we respond when they went on a run? What would we do if they jumped out on us right away?” Thayer said.
Those discussions proved fruitful. Fox righted the ship with a hoop, and the Panthers ripped off a quick 8-0 run of their own to answer the bell and tie the game 10-10.
“We stayed mentally prepared and didn’t panic,” Thayer lauded.
The frenetic pace continued for the game’s first eight minutes. The teams traded blows, though a pair of 3-pointers from Jared Hubbard (14 points) late in the opening stanza had Pioneer up 24-22 after one.
It was a scene all too familiar for Byrd and his team. The Baystate coach had the memories of a trip to Northfield three years ago in the Western Mass. tournament fresh in his head Wednesday night. Five members of this year’s Bulls roster played in that game, a 74-63 Pioneer victory in the quarterfinal round at Messer Gymnasium.
“Oh we remembered that,” Byrd said with a smile. “So we knew what kind of team we were getting here. (Thayer) is a great coach. A great coach. We knew they’d be solid and I think that familiarity from a few years ago helped us know what kind of game we were in for.”
Neither team led by more than three points for the entire second quarter, but Pioneer received key 3-pointers from Brayden Thayer (9 points), Josh Wood (8) and Alex McClelland (5) in the period to take a 37-34 halftime advantage.
“We played the pace we wanted to in the first half and it was sort of a glimpse into the type of team that I thought we could have this season,” said Thayer. “It came down to us not making shots when we needed to in the second half and then things kind of snowballed from there.”
Next up, Baystate will host No. 7 Granby in the Division 5 quarterfinal round.
The Panthers, which will graduate five seniors, finished 11-11 overall.
“I told the kids after the game, just how proud I was of their effort and everything they gave us this season,” said Thayer. “I know they have the respect of everyone in that gym tonight. This will hurt for a little bit but the future is bright.”