SOUTH DEERFIELD — After a hard-fought loss to Pittsfield in the Western Mass. Class B semifinals, the Frontier girls basketball team was more than ready for its MIAA Division 4 tournament opener against Manchester Essex on Thursday. 

After a slow start offensively, the 13th-seeded Redhawks found their rhythm in the second quarter to take a 20-14 halftime advantage before outscoring the 20th-seeded Hornets 31-19 in the second half to run away with a 51-33 Round of 32 victory at Goodnow Gymnasium. 

Frontier (18-3) advanced to the Round of 16 where it will face fourth-seeded Bourne, which knocked off Easthampton, 71-37, in another Round of 32 contest Thursday. The date and time was still to be determined at press time.

“Every single game, every team is going to be scratching and clawing to win,” Redhawks coach Dave Machon said. “It’s win or go home. I tell the girls, upper seed, lower seed you have to have that mentality and you have to play to win or else you go home.” 

It was the defensive effort that carried Frontier on Thursday. 

The Redhawks didn’t give Manchester Essex (9-13) any easy looks at the rim, forcing the Hornets to settle for deep shots outside. 

Frontier’s press also was able to turn the ball over which led to easy hoops on the other end. 

“I’ve been preaching that defense wins championships for five years,” Machon said. “I was happy with how we played defensively and ran our defense tonight. It’s new to us but it was working tonight.” 

It was a low scoring first quarter, as Addie Harrington tallied in the paint, Skyler Steele drained a 3-pointer and Whitney Campbell made a pair from the stripe while Lily Oliver scored all seven points for Manchester Essex to tie thing at seven after eight minutes. 

The Frontier defense was swarming the Hornets early in the second quarter, not allowing Manchester Essex to score until the four minute mark of the frame. Frontier’s Harper Modestow got to the rim for two and hit a 3 while Steele made a jumper to give the Redhawks a 14-7 lead. 

The Hornets chipped away as Oliver hit a 3 late in the quarter but Claire Kirkendall closed the half with a jumper for Frontier that gave the Redhawks a 20-14 lead at the intermission. 

Frontier took control in the third. 

Olivia Machon got things started with a basket and followed it with a 3-pointer. Emerald Jakes responded with a basket for Manchester Essex but the Redhawks then went on a 9-0 run off six points from Modestow, two from Campbell and a free throw from Steele to take a 34-16 lead. 

The Hornets made a trio of shots to cut the lead to 36-24 going into the fourth but Harrington scored a trio of points before Campbell and Kirkendall added baskets that gave Frontier a 43-27 lead late in the frame to put the game away. 

After playing a grueling schedule before the tournament, the Redhawks feel more than ready for the challenging opponents it’ll be facing moving forward. 

“Seeing Pittsfield, seeing Wahconah, seeing Belchertown to wrap up the regular season, we had a lot of tough competition right at the right time to prepare us for the tournament,” Dave Machon said. “It was great preparation.” 

Girls basketball

MIAA Div. 5 Round of 32

Lee 63, Mahar 25 — The Wildcats got their revenge after the Sens knocked them out of the Div. 5 tournament last year, as ninth-seeded Lee led 24th-seeded Mahar 30-16 at the half to pull away with a victory in the Round of 32 on Thursday. 

The Senators closed their season with a 9-13 record. 

Thea Whitmore scored eight points, Lexi Ares tallied seven points while Haylee Paluk and Hayden Comeau each scored five points in the loss for Mahar. 

St. John Paul II 61, Greenfield 19 — The 27th-seeded Green Wave were unable to spring the upset on the road in the Round of 32 on Thursday, as sixth-seeded Saint John Paul II built a 35-12 lead at the half to advance to the Round of 16 with a victory in Hyannis. 

Greenfield closed its season with an 8-14 record. 

Anna Bucala led the Wave with seven points, Tayler Bergeron scored six points while Natalia Cody and Annie Cobileanschi each added two points in the loss. 

Boys basketball

MIAA Div. 4 Round of 32

Greenfield 83, Lunenburg 76 — The Green Wave weren’t ready to see their season end on Thursday. 

The 26th-seeded Wave made the trip to face the seventh-seeded Blue Knights in the Div. 4 Round of 32 and after leading 40-38 at the half, outscored Lunenburg 21-12 in the third to pull off the upset and advance to the Round of 16. 

Greenfield (12-10) will play at the winner of No. 10 KIPP Academy and No. 23 O’Bryant at a date and time to be determined. 

Jon Breor led the way with 23 points, Grayson Thomas tallied 19 points, Caleb Thomas tossed in 17 points, Caleb Murray recorded 10 points while Erik Martineau added nine points in the victory. 

 Hockey

MIAA Div. 4 Round of 32

Sandwich 3, Greenfield 2 (2OT) — When the 16 and 17 seeds meet, a close game is expected. 

That's what played out at Gallo Arena in Bourne on Thursday between 16th-seeded Sandwich and 17th-seeded Greenfield. 

The Blue Knights scored twice in the first period but the Green Wave responded with a pair of goals in the second to knot things at two. 

Neither club scored in the third, which led to 4-on-4 overtime hockey. 

The first eight-minute OT saw Sandwich hit the post, but neither team found the back of the net which led to a 3-on-3 second overtime period. 

There, Blue Knight Ty Creighton got behind the net and found Reece MacKinnon in front who buried the shot to send Sandwich to the Round of 16 with a 3-2 victory. Sandwich will play at No. 1 Stoneham on Saturday.

Sandwich scored their two goals in a one minute span in the first period. Connor Reid got the scoring going on the power play  before MacKinnon found the back of the net 42 seconds later to help the Blue Knights take a 2-0 lead after one. 

Greenfield chipped away. Jack Laurie blasted one in off a dish from Luca Siano with 7:29 to go in the second period and with 23 seconds in the second, Jake Jurek buried an unassisted goal to tie the game at two.