TURNERS FALLS — The issue was hardly ever in doubt Monday night, but a host of teachable moments still came out of Turners Falls High School’s preliminary-round game in the Western Massachusetts Division IV Basketball Tournament.
Turners ran off 21 consecutive points at one stretch of the first and second quarters, then held Pathfinder Regional Vocational Technical High School without a field goal for over 19 minutes to rough up the Pioneers, 56-24.
Abby Loynd and Aliyah Sanders each scored a game-high 11 points to lead fourth-seeded Turners (13-8), while Dabney Rollins, Maddy Chmyzinski and Chloe Ellis each added 8. The hosts also used superb 19-of-27 free-throw shooting to keep matters well under control.
Turners managed to do all that despite committing 10 first-quarter turnovers and 25 in the game. Defensively, though, the Blue and White forced Pathfinder (11-10) into 30 turnovers, en route to a 31-8 lead at halftime.
“There were stretches in there where we played well, and places where we played bad. But you’re going to take the win come tournament time,” said Turners coach Ted Wilcox. “We had a slow start in the first quarter, and we can’t afford to do that now. We got away with it tonight, but we’ve got to step it up.”
Next up for the Powertowners is a Thursday night quarterfinal at home against fifth-seeded Mount Everett Regional School (12-9) of Sheffield, which advanced by thumping Gateway Regional High School, 55-19, in a first-round game Monday.
Pathfinder led 5-2 after back-to-back baskets by Alijhalis Dias, but Rollins got Turners’ monster run started with a layup and foul, despite missing the free throw. Ellis’ three-point play put the hosts ahead for good at 7-5. Chmyzinski drove for a layup, Sanders added a pair at the line, and Sarah Waldron and Chmyzinski tacked on single free throws as Turners went up 13-5 after one quarter.
The spree continued into the second with six straight points by Loynd, Emma Miner’s runner in the lane and a basket by Ellis off an inbounds play. Suddenly it was 23-5 before the Pioneers stopped the bleeding on a free throw by Tiffany Papesh with 4:02 left in the half, their first point in nearly 9½ minutes.
Sanders then buried a 3-pointer from on top and Pathfinder could manage only two more foul shots before the teams went to the break with Turners up 31-8.
The hosts got a scare early in the third quarter when Chmyzinski fell awkwardly and seemed to tweak her left knee. She went to the bench, but would eventually return to action with 2½ minutes left in the game.
Turners pushed the advantage to 39-11 before Trista Daley’s three-point play for the Pioneers with 2:11 to play in the third. That represented Pathfinder’s first field goal in a span of 19:17 of game time. Aly Murphy and Hailey Bogusz (five points) finished off the quarter with baskets for Turners, good for a 43-14 advantage after three.
Caleena Welsh led the Pioneers with 6 points and Dias was right behind with 5.
“Our top four scorers are all bunched right there, so they can’t key on one player,” said Wilcox of his team’s offensive balance Monday. “It’s a good win. It used to be when you got on the bus, it was a ‘W’ when you came to Turners. Those days are gone, and these girls have had a lot to do with that. We’ll see how far we can go.”