Greenfield sweeps league

For the fourth year in a row, Greenfield High School ran the table in league play.

The Green Wave capped an undefeated Franklin County League North Division slate Monday night, dispatching Mahar, 55-37, at Nichols Gymnasium in Greenfield. The hosts improved to 17-2 overall, 8-0 in the league. It was the program’s 32nd consecutive league victory, dating back to the team’s last FCL defeat against Mohawk on Feb. 16, 2015.

Greenfield led 16-10 after one quarter, and snatched control going into halftime with a 31-16 advantage at the break.

Raegan Hickey’s 18 points led all scorers, while Racquel Provost posted her second consecutive double-digit outing with 10 points, including eight in the first half to get the Wave off and running. Katie Haselton followed with 9 points in the win, while Kristina Reed notched 7 points and Olivia Joy added a season-high 6 points. Hickey pulled down 11 rebounds, Haselton added nine and Provost tossed in seven, while Hickey dished out seven assists and Haselton recorded five steals.

Mahar (12-8, 4-4) received 17 points from Micalyn Mailloux, who went over the 300-point mark on the season (314) and sits third in the Recorder-area in points per game this season (15.7). Tori Tenney scored 6 points for the Senators, with Jazmyn Vautour (5 points), Abby Bonk (4) and Delaney Parker (4) all contributing offensively.

Greenfield was without senior leading-scorer Samantha Smith, who missed the game and is day-to-day with an injury.

The Wave have one final test remaining before the WMass Tournament, and it should be an interesting tussle as Div. 2 Taconic (14-4) comes to town Wednesday night for an independent game featuring two teams with deep postseason aspirations. Mahar is through its schedule and will now await its seeding for the Div. 3 tourney.

McCann Tech 47, Mohawk 32 — A late regular-season charge had Mohawk in position to earn a postseason berth, but the Warriors’ bid to punch their ticket fell just short Monday night.

Host McCann Tech avenged a 10-point loss in Buckland earlier this season, holding serve in a 47-32 victory in North Adams, Monday, in a Franklin County League West showdown. The loss signaled the end of the season for Mohawk (6-14, 4-4), which would’ve clinched a tourney bid with a win but ultimately winds up third in the FCL West with the two top teams (Pope Francis and McCann Tech) snagging automatic berths.

McCann Tech (12-8, 5-3), which had already clinched a spot in the Big Dance but secured league runner-up honors with the win, led 15-7 after one quarter and 26-12 at halftime. The Warriors charged late, outscoring the Hornets by a 15-8 margin in the fourth quarter, but the deficit was too great for a comeback win.

Grace Towler’s big night propelled the hosts. The McCann sharpshooter registered 23 points, including five 3-pointers, to lead the way offensively. The squad sank nine 3’s on the night, with Izzy LaCasse tossing in 14 points.

Mohawk’s leading scorer Grace Poplawski went for 14 points in the loss, giving her a final total of 270 points for the season. Ashley Reynolds added 7 points, while Grace Ward followed with 6 and Mya Lesieur sank a 3-pointer.

Hopkins 42, Frontier 41 OT — Hopkins held Frontier without a field goal in overtime on Monday night to get past the Red Hawks, 42-41, in a FCL North girls basketball game at Goodnow Gymnasium in South Deerfield.

Despite the loss, Frontier did have reason to celebrate on the night as Greenfield’s win over Mahar clinched the Red Hawks a share of second place in the FCL North and the playoff berth that goes with it. Mahar, Hopkins and Frontier all tied at 4-4 in the league.

“I said to them, we are more tournament ready tonight than we were yesterday,” Frontier co-coach Frank Keimig said. “We played well and I think we learned a lot about ourselves.”

The Red Hawks did a great job defensively on Hopkins’ top scorers as Samantha Jenks was held to 11 points, and Allison Kowal-Safron was limited to 9 points.

“We held them to 38 points in regulation,” Keimig said.

The offense just wasn’t there for Frontier, which went 3-for-4 from the free throw line in overtime but was held without a field goal as they were outscored 4-3. Hopkins hit a pair of 2-point baskets in the extra frame.

Amelia Sobieski and Marie Diemand each scored 10 points for Frontier, while Olivia Deane chipped in 7. Ariana Walker and Kaitlyn Mackin each chipped in 5 points.

Frontier (9-10) closes out the regular season at home on Wednesday against Amherst.

FC Tech 40, PV Christian 13 — Behind a season-high offensive performance from Jocelyn Crowningshield, Franklin Tech cruised to a 40-13 win over Pioneer Valley Christian in Tri-County League North action Monday night in Turners Falls.

Crowningshield poured in 20 points, outscoring the entire Pioneer Valley Christian team by herself. Isabelle Duga added 5 points in the win, while Gem Cruz tossed in 4 points. Jenesis Currier notched her first career varsity points, coming on in the fourth quarter and notching 4 points herself.

The Eagles (11-8, 6-3) led 14-2 after one quarter and took a commanding 28-5 lead into halftime to put things out of reach. The squad heads to Duggan Academy on Wednesday night for its regular-season finale. 

Hockey

Greenfield 3, Ludlow 2 — Greenfield continued its surge into the postseason on Monday night.

Kevin Baumann scored with 41 seconds to play in the second period to give the Green Wave a one-goal lead and the hosts pitched a shutout in the third period to edge Ludlow, 3-2, in an independent game at Collins-Moylan Arena in Greenfield.

Greenfield wraps up the regular season 16-2-2 and has won three games in the past four days, including a victory over Belchertown on Friday, and then knocked off Berry Division-foe Ludlow in the season finale. The hockey seed meeting takes place on Saturday.

“One thing we said in the locker room is that they should be extremely proud of themselves for what they did from the day after Thanksgiving until what we did today,” Greenfield coach Adam Bouchard said. “I’m extremely proud of all the effort they put, all the extra hard work they put in, and now a new season is coming up with the playoffs.”

Greenfield held a 49-21 edge in shots on net but Ludlow goalie Mike Young kept things close, making 40 saves in the first two periods. Greenfield opened the scoring 59 seconds into the game when Aidan Roche picked off the puck from a Ludlow defenseman and walked in on Young on a breakaway and beat the goalie for his 10th goal of the season.

Ludlow scored with 7:01 to play in the first period as Colin Sawicki picked the top corner of the goal over the blocker of Wave netminder Riley Drew to tie the score after one period. It took the Lions just 15 seconds to take the lead into the second peroid when Cole Moutinho scored from Aiden McBride. Greenfield tied the score with 6:55 to play when Sean O’Sullivan raced along the boards to the left of the Ludlow goal, beat his defender and passed it across the slot to Roche, who netted his second of the game and 11th of the season. Then, with 41 seconds to play in the second, Doug Hanieski passed the puck back to the point in the Ludlow zone where Baumann let a wrist shot fly that beat Young low on the stick side for a 3-2 lead.

The game tightened up defensively in the third, with Ludlow holding a 7-6 edge in shots. Drew turned aside all seven and finished with 19 saves in the win.

“Coming into the third period, one of the things we talked about in the locker room was knowing responsibilities,” Bouchard said. “To be able to come away and keep that one-goal lead was a huge positive and a really good effort by everyone on the team.”

Boys basketball

FC Tech 50, St Mary’s 26 — Franklin Tech is battling for its postseason life in the final week of the season and on Monday night the Eagles took care of business.

Garret Cole finished with 14 points, 20 rebounds, three steals and three blocked shots and Franklin Tech dumped St. Mary’s, 50-26, in an independent boys basketball game in Westfield.

The Eagles (8-10) entered the day needing to win each of their final three games of the season to qualify for the postseason. That number is now down to two as the team heads to North Adams this evening for perhaps its toughest assignment of the week when it takes on McCann Tech (12-4).

“We’ve got to play out best basketball, but I think we are capable of that,” Franklin Tech coach Tim Artus said. “Every game is a tournament game for us right now. That’s got to be the mindset.”

Franklin Tech did it on the defensive end against the Saints, allowing just 11 points in the first half and 26 for the game.

“We worked on several of our defenses and executed them very well,” Artus said. “It’s a matter of communication. When we talk to each other on the court, we execute.”

Justin Littlewood finished with 10 points and five rebounds in the win, while Cole Littlewood added 6 points. Dylan Demers and Jared Vielmetti-Perusse each added 5 points.

Brady Collins led Smith Voke with 11 points, and Luke Willenborg netted 8 points.

Greenfield 55, Mahar 37

Mahar (37)

Parker 1-2—4, Tenney 3-0—6, Mailloux 7-3—17, Davis 0-1—1, Bonk 2-0—4, Vautour 2-1—5, Apteker, Page. Totals 15-7–37.

Greenfield (55)

Rivera 1-0—3, Provost 4-0—10, Haselton 4-0—9, Hickey 7-1—18, Joy 3-0—6, Reed 2-3—7, Richardson 1-0—2. Totals: 22-4–55.

3-Point Goals: (M) none. (G) Provost 2, Rivera, Hickey 3, Haselton.

Score by quarters:

McCann Tech 47, Mohawk 32

Mohawk (32)

Lesieur 1-0—3, Ward 3-0—6, Dupree 1-0—2, Allen, Crawford, Poplawski 3-7—14, Reynolds 2-3—7, Rancourt. Totals 10-10–32.

McCann Tech (47)

Marino 1-0—2, LaCasse 5-2—12, Quinones 1-0—3, Tatro 1-1—3, Demather 1-0—2, Towler 9-0—23. Totals 18-3–47.

3-Point Goals: (Mo) Poplawski, Lesieur. (MT) Towler 5, LaCasse 2, Quinones.

Score by quarters:

Hopkins 42, Frontier 41, OT

Hopkins (42)

Hanscom 4-0—9, A. Kowal-Safron 3-2—9, Jenks 2-7—11, Mitchell 4-0—8, Beauchamp 1-2—5. Totals 14-11–42.

Frontier (41)

Walker 2-1—5, Mackin 0-5—5, Sobieski 3-3—10, Doulette 0-4—4, Deane 2-3—7, Diemand 4-0—10, Bridwell, Warren. Totals: 11-16–41.

3-Point Goals: (H) Hanscom, Beauchamp, A. Kowal-Safron. (F) Sobieski, Diemand 2.

Score by quarters:

FC Tech 40, PV Christian 13

PV Christian (13)

Walker 1-0—2, Sharp 1-0—2, Emerson 1-0—2, K. Raviza 0-1—1, M. Raviza 1-0—2, Nicoll 2-0—4. Totals 6-1–13.

FC Tech (40)

Cruz 2-0—4, Kucenski 1-0—2, Doane 1-0—2, Crowningshield 10-0—20, Duga 2-1—5, Currier 2-0—4, Ryan 1-1—3, Jobst, Merritt, Eastman. Totals: 19-2–40.

3-Point Goals: none.

Score by quarters:

HOCKEY

Greenfield 3, Ludlow 2

Goals: (L) Sawicki, Moutinho. (G) Roche 2, K. Baumann.

Assists: (L) McBride. (G) O’Sullivan, Hanieski.

Shots: Ludlow 21. Greenfield 49.

Saves: (L) Young 46. (G) Drew 19.

BOYS GAME

FC Tech 50, St. Mary’s 26

FC Tech (50)

D. Demers 2-1—5, A. Demers 1-0—3, Vielmetti-Perusse 2-1—5, J. Littlewood 4-2—10, Wozniak 1-0—3, Cole 7-0—14, C. Littlewood 3-0—6, McLaughlin. Totals 21-6–50.

St. Mary’s (26)

Willenborg 4-0—8, Blanchard 1-0—2, Collins 4-0—11, Fitzgibbons 1-1—4, Speck 0-1—1. Totals: 10-2–26.

3-Point Goals: (FT) Wozniak, A. Demers. (SM) Collins 3, Fitzgibbons.

Score by quarters: