Wave closing in on tourney berth

The crazy week that was in the Hampshire League North Division ended with a bang on Friday night.

In what was nearly a must-win situation for Greenfield High School against a Smith Academy team that came off a huge surprise victory over Frontier Regional School, the Green Wave took care of business and put itself firmly in contention to make the postseason with a 53-35 victory in Hatfield.

Greenfield (9-8) must win one of its final three games to qualify as it faces Pioneer, Mohawk and Frontier on the road next week.

“It’s a huge win,” Greenfield coach Angelo Thomas began. “If we don’t win this game, then we have to beat Pioneer or Frontier. Now we are 9-8 and we’ve got to keep riding high. I was very proud of the way they played tonight. They executed the game plan to perfection. Smith maybe had one offensive rebound tonight. We just played with such a purpose. It took 17 games to get here, but that’s just the process I guess.”

Greenfield led 31-23 at the break and then locked down the Falcons defensively in the second half, allowing the hosts just four points in the third quarter and eight in the fourth, which included a last-second 3-pointer. 

“We played with a sense of urgency tonight and did things with a purpose,” Thomas said. “It was outstanding.”

Mason Meadows had a huge night for the Green Wave with 16 points and 20 rebounds, and Owen Phelps finished with 14 points. Ryan Cote and Hunter Campbell each scored 7 points, and Danny Vega added 6.

Smith Academy entered the night coming off the upset of the season with a 69-61 victory over Frontier, Wednesday in South Deerfield but the Falcons could not sustain the momentum following that win. Jack Zigmont led Smith Academy (6-11) with 13 points, and Brett Gratz added 12 points.

Greenfield travels to Pioneer on Monday.

Drury 84, Pioneer 63 — The last time Pioneer and Drury faced off on the basketball court, the Blue Devils were standing around stunned after junior guard Garrett Cote’s buzzer-beating 3-pointer lifted the Panthers to a 69-68 victory in the WMass Division 4 semifinals this past March. 

Things were a bit different Friday night in North Adams.

The Blue Devils jumped all over Pioneer early and took advantage of a shorthanded Panther lineup en route to a 84-63 victory in an independent boys basketball game.

The Panthers (13-3) were playing without several players who were out with injuries including Troy Emond, Ryan Underwood and Jayden Fox. Drury, meanwhile, brought back pretty much its entire contingent from a season ago when it appeared poised to knock off the Panthers in the WMass semifinals at Curry Hicks Cage before Cote capped off a late rally with his heroics.

Scott McGuire had a huge hand in Drury’s victory on Friday, as he scored 22 of his game-high 32 points in the first half as the Blue Devils raced out to a 48-23 lead at the break. Pioneer stormed back in the second half and actually cut the deficit down to 13 at one point. Drury left the starters in until late and Pioneer managed to win the half by outscoring the Devils, 40-36, something that Pioneer coach Scott Thayer was proud of.

“I thought we played hard throughout the game,” he said. “Our halftime adjustment was the players self-correcting their mental approach. Drury got everyone back from last season, and we had some underclassmen who have to go through this stuff. We took a 25-point deficit and cut it to 13 where it could just as easily grown to 40. There was a lot of positives to take away.”

Drury scored 10 points off Pioneer’s 15 first-half turnovers, helping to build the lead. Reece Racette finished with 23 points in the win, and Hunter Sarkis added 13 points.

Cote finished with 22 points in the loss, while Jared Hubbard had 17 points. Joel Emberley stepped up for the Panthers with a double-double as he finished with 11 points and 10 rebounds.

Belchertown 60, Mahar 56 — The up-and-down season for Mahar continued on Friday night as it lost for the second time this week to a non-tournament qualified team this time with a 60-56 defeat to Belchertown at Grzesik-Bixby Gymnasium in Orange.

The Senators (13-6) took a 26-25 lead into the break but the Orioles (7-11) came back and gutted out the victory in the second half. Mahar had a chance to tie it in the final minute but missed a shot from the baseline, and Belchertown sealed the win with free throws.

“Our perimeter defense was not very good at all,” Mahar coach Chad Softic said. “I’m not too happy that we can’t play man-to-man right now, we have to switch to zone, which limits us on defense. We are not a typical Mahar team in terms of our defense right now.”

Senior Jordan Desrosiers finished with five points on Senior Night, while Eli Gonzalez had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Jordan Carron finished with 13 points, and Charlie Barnes added 12 points.

Corey Lanoue led Belchertown with 19 points, and Jordan Lanoue added 18 points.

Frontier 59, Mohawk 27 — Frontier shook off a tough loss to Smith Academy on Wednesday by bouncing back to take care of business against Mohawk with a 59-27 victory in a HL North boys basketball game Friday in Buckland.

Peter Carey led Frontier (16-2) 13 points, and Owen Morse added 12. Carsten Carey notched 10 points, and Gabe Gochinski added 6 points.

Jackson Hicks led Mohawk with 10 points, and Owen Cross chipped in 6 points.

Girls’ game

Drury 62, Pioneer 40 — A five-point second-quarter output doomed Pioneer on Friday night as Drury managed to pull away and went on to a 62-40 victory in an independent girls’ game in North Adams.

The teams were tied at 16-16 after a high-scoring first quarter but the Panthers’ offense stalled out in the second quarter, while Drury nearly matched its first-quarter output with 15 points to take a 31-21 lead into the break. The Blue Devils outscored Pioneer in each of the final two quarters to thwart any ideas of a comeback.

Brooke DiGennaro scored 22 points for the Blue Devils, and Kayla McGrath added 14. Hayley Shook chipped in 10.

Paige Loughman led the Panthers (10-8) with 17 points, while Olivia Rowe added 15 points.

Drury 84, Pioneer 63

Pioneer (63)

Hubbard 5-4—17, Potter 1-0—2, Fuller 2-0—4, Cote 7-4—22, Fox 1-0—2, Dobosz 2-0—4, Brown 0-1—1, Emberley 4-3—11. Totals 22-12—63.

Drury (84)

McGuire 14-2—32, Rodriguez 3-1—7, Racette 9-4—23, Woodson 1-0—2, Pettingill 0-2—2, Daugherty 1-1—3, Sarkis 4-2—13, Brazeau 1-0—2. Totals: 33-12—84.

3-Point Goals: (P) Hubbard 3, Cote 4. (D) McGuire 2, Racette, Sarkis 3.

Score by quarters:

Frontier 59, Mohawk 27

Frontier (59)

Sharp 0-1—1, Evans 1-0—2, Barrington 1-1—4, Gochinski 2-1—6, Robinson 1-0—3, P. Carey 4-5—13, Morse 5-0—12, Jones-Thompson 2-0—5, C. Carey 4-2—10, Walkowicz 1-1—3, Nuerminger. Totals 22-14–66.

Mohawk (27)

Davenport 2-0—4, Hicks 3-4—10, Dubrieul 1-1—4, Cross 3-0—6, Guyette 0-1—1, Sumner 1-0—2, Matthews, Moffatt, Lococo, Bassett. Totals: 31-6–70.

3-Point Goals: (F) . (M) .

Score by quarters:

Greenfield 53, Smith 35

Greenfield (53)

Vega 2-1—6, Phelps 4-4—14, Sak 1-1—3, Meadows 7-1—16, Campbell 3-0—7, Rote 3-0—7, Haselton, Zwart, Brewington. Totals 20-7—53.

Smith Academy (35)

Gratz 5-0—12, Zigmont 4-4—13, Bartlett 1-0—2, Cavanaugh 1-0—3, Woodward 2-0—5. Totals: 13-4—35.

3-Point Goals: (G) Phelps 2, Vega, Meadows, Campbell, Cote. (SA) Gratz 2, Zigmont, Cavanaugh, Woodward.

Score by quarters:

Belchertown 60, Mahar 56

Belchertown (60)

Schiffer 1-6—8, Bechtold 1-0—2, Wrong 1-2—4, Lawless 2-0—4, Wright 1-0—2, C. Lanoue 7-2—19, Raines 0-3—3, J. Lanoue 6-6—18. Totals 19-19—60.

Mahar (56)

Desrosiers 1-2—5, Barnes 3-5—12, Tenney 0-1—1, Chabot 2-1—5, Carron 5-3—13, Lyesiuk 1-0—2, Gonzalez 6-2—14, Watson 1-2—4. Totals: 19-16—56.

3-Point Goals: (B) C. Lanoue 3. (M) Desrosiers, Barnes.

Score by quarters:

Girls Game

Drury 62, Pioneer 40

Pioneer (40)

Loughman 7-1—17, Scoville 1-0—2, Rowe 7-1—15, Faille 1-0—2, Johnson 0-1—1, Cecunjanin 1-1—3, Tibbetts, Ellis, Briggs, Flagg, Kahler. Totals 17-4—40.

Drury (62)

DiGennaro 9-3—22, Shook 4-0—10, Felix 1-0—3, McGrath 5-2—14, Thomas 2-0—4, Zoito 1-0—2, Dobbert 1-0—2, Dix 2-1—5. Totals: 25-5—62.

3-Point Goals: (P) Loughman 2. (D) DiGrennaro, Shook 2, Felix, McGrath 2.

Score by quarters: