BUCKLAND — After nearly two weeks since its last game, what difference could two extra hours make for a well-rested Mohawk Trail Regional girls basketball squad Thursday night?
Travel troubles for the visitors from Boston’s Fenway High School made for a lengthy delay to the start of the girls Division 5 preliminary round state tournament game, and once it finally tipped off, the first quarter proved downright unsightly. But the host Warriors hit their stride from that point forward, using a 22-4 second-quarter burst for a 19-point halftime edge and cruising from there to a 63-32 victory over the Panthers.
Mohawk, the No. 32 seed in Division 5, improved to 10-11 and earned a Round of 32 game at top-seeded Drury of North Adams (16-5) Saturday at 3 p.m.
Youth was certainly served Thursday as eighth-grade post player Sadie Wilcox filled it up for a game-high 26 points, and freshman Emmalee Inman added 17 for the Warriors. Junior guard Natalie Lanoue dropped in three 3-pointers en route to her 16-point output.
“We felt like we could run on them and wear them down with our pressure,” Mohawk coach Steve Bzomowski said. “They had two players that could hurt us, and if we could concentrate on limiting them, it takes good team defense to do that and for the most part, we did it. The mistakes we made, the unforced errors in the first quarter, we worked through it and kept to our game.”
The first ball went into the air at 6:56 p.m. Thursday, an hour and 56 minutes behind schedule. The Warriors ran out to an early 9-2 lead before Fenway (10-6) scored the last six points of the first quarter to trail 9-8. At that point, the teams had combined to commit 29 turnovers through the first eight minutes.
Ali Santiago scored on a putback to give Fenway its lone lead of the evening at 10-9, and the Panthers were still within 13-12 on a basket by Ady Jimenez with 4:20 left in the half. But the Warriors zoomed into the break on an 18-0 run, spiced by four inside baskets by Wilcox, two hoops from Inman and a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from the deep left corner by Lanoue to bump the lead to 31-12.
Mohawk then got nine points from Inman and seven by Wilcox in the third quarter to key a 21-11 advantage that made it 52-23.
Nethania Previlon scored 15 of her team-high 19 points in the second half to pace the 33rd-seeded Panthers. Santiago finished with nine.
All 10 Mohawk players saw action Thursday, with reserves Aurora Moynihan and Anna Whitaker each pitching in with a basket.
“We’re looking forward to it. We feel like we have the ingredients to give anybody a good battle,” Bzomowski said of Saturday’s upcoming matchup with Drury, the reigning Western Mass. Class C champion and No. 1-ranked Division 5 team statewide.
Norfolk County Agricultural 50, Pioneer 41 — The 19th-seeded Panthers lost to No. 14 Norfolk in the Division 5 tournament Round of 32 in Walpole. Maggie Tsipenyuk scored 17 points for the Panthers. Jaelyn Boliski and Cobi Tyminski both added seven points. Kiara Gruszkowski chipped in with five points.
Senior Kyler McClelland finished with three points. The deep-shooting threat finished her high school career with 936 points at Pioneer.
Lenox 56, Greenfield 36 — No. 21 Greenfield couldn’t stay with the 12th-seeded Millionaires in the Division 5 tournament Round of 32 in the Berkshires. Tayler Bergeron scored 23 points for the Green Wave. Amy Mihailicenco added six points. Sofia Ruggeri knocked down a 3-pointer for Greenfield.
Mahar 64, Palmer 35 — The Senators sprinted past the 23rd-seeded Panthers in the Division 5 tournament Round of 32 at Grzesik-Bixby Gymnasium. Hayden Comeau dropped 27 points on the Panthers. Comeau is now 16 points away from 1,000 for her career with Mahar. The senior went 13-for-16 from the free throw line.
Taylor Paluk was in double-figures with 15 points for the Senators. Adalynn Almeida added nine points, with Nastasia Sanders chipping in with seven points.
No. 10 Mahar moves on to the Round of 16 to play the winner of No. 7 Minutemen Regional and No. 26 Hull. Date, time and location to be determined.
Boys basketball
Franklin Tech 52, Ruth Batson 44 —The 45th-seeded Eagles went to Beantown and pulled off the upset against No. 20 Ruth Batson in the Division 5 tournament preliminary round.
The Eagles advance to play No. 13 Hull in the Round of 32 on Saturday at 1 p.m. Franklin Tech held a 38-36 lead going into the fourth quarter before pulling away with the help of a big fourth quarter from Nolyn Stafford (13 points). Landon Benz dropped 18 points on six 3-pointers for the Eagles. Stafford scored 10 of his 13 points in the final frame.
Mason Bassett added seven points for the Eagles.
