ORANGE — It was business as usual playing in the paint for Zack Notre.
The gritty forward scored the game-winning basket for the Mahar Regional School boys basketball team in a 56-54 win over Pioneer Valley Regional on Tuesday.
“It was just like any other shot,” Notre said. “I was just trying to win the game.”
Except after this shot, Notre’s teammates swarmed him at Grzesik-Bixby Gymnasium as the home crowd went berserk.
Notre sunk the shot after grabbing an offensive rebound with no time left on the clock to secure Mahar’s Hampshire League South victory.
“It’s pretty great,” Notre said. “We were down. Everyone put in the work.”
With 4.5 seconds left, the Senators inbounded near their own bench. Matt Lyesiuk found Charlie Barnes, who made a strong move before pulling up for a jumper that went in and out.
Notre darted to the weak side, grabbed the rebound and used glass to bank in a shot at the buzzer. The final board gave Notre 10 rebounds for the game along with eight points.
The Senators (3-3, 1-1) battled back after trailing 49-42 early in the fourth quarter.
Pioneer’s Ryan Potter opened the fourth with a 3-pointer. Then it was Troy Emond’s turn with a 3-pointer and a layup to give the Panthers a seven-point lead.
During the fourth quarter comeback, Jake Tenney, Noaha Chabot, Lyesiuk and Barnes all made key baskets to give Mahar a shot late.
“We put ourselves in a really bad spot,” Mahar coach Chad Softic said. “As disappointed as I was in the game, we really showed some character in the last five minutes. Everyone contributed. That game could have gotten away from us.”
At one point in the first half, the Panthers trailed by nine points. But a strong third quarter aided by the shooting of Emond closed the gap for Pioneer.
“Great energy, great effort and great toughness,” Pioneer coach Scott Thayer said of his team. “That’s the way we want to play. I know we lost and the kids are disappointed. But the joy that they had playing… it was stress-free.”
Jared Hubbard hit a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 42 seconds left to give Pioneer a 52-49 lead but Lyesiuk tied the game on the following possession for Mahar.
“We made a lot of mistakes but we played through adversity,” Thayer said.
Pioneer’s Jayden Fox and Chabot traded baskets in the paint to even the game 52-52 heading into the final seconds.
Emond (18 points, six steals), Hubbard (13 points) and Fox (10) all reached double-figures for the Panthers (2-3, 1-1).
Tenney had a big game for Mahar with 16 points, nine coming in the third quarter when the Senators needed offense.
Gavin Sullivan boosted the Mahar offense in the first quarter. Sullivan found Notre underneath with a nifty pass that led to an easy score.
Some turnovers bogged down Mahar’s offense in the second quarter, but a Notre putback gave Mahar its biggest lead at 21-12.
Potter’s take through contact cut the lead to 23-16 with two minutes left. Pioneer continued to make a run with Hubbard knocking down a 3-pointer before a steal and layup by Emond. Mahar led 24-21 at halftime.
Emond tied the game at 32-32 with 4:33 left in the third quarter.
Pioneer took the lead, 40-39, on a take in the paint by Fox with under a minute to play in the third.
Aden Santana hit a big 3-pointer at the third quarter buzzer to give Mahar a 42-21 lead going into the fourth.
Pioneer gets right back to action tonight when it hosts Drury, while Mahar is off until Friday night’s Hampshire League South showdown with Belchertown.
