NORTHFIELD — The Pioneer girls basketball team has made strides throughout the season and those steps in the right direction showed up in particular in the second quarter on Monday against Mohawk Trail.
The Panthers created turnovers and converted on fast break opportunities to go on an 18-0 run to open the frame. The hosts didn’t allow the Warriors to get on the scoreboard until the 2:30 mark of the quarter.
Pioneer wound up outscoring Mohawk Trail 20-5 in the second and survived a late fourth quarter push by the Warriors to pull away with a 48-42 Franklin County League South victory at Messier Gymnasium.
“We’ve been preaching working hard on defense,” Pioneer coach Mike Churchill said. “That’ll get us some easy buckets. We were able to put a run together and we made a few free throws. That’s always good when you can do that.”
Hailey Ring and Sofia Walker opened the second with baskets for Pioneer before Caroline Ring knocked down a 3 to give the Panthers an 18-12 lead.
Whitney Dunklee then knocked down a shot, Laura Kahler got to the rim for two, Fota Ndiaye made a shot down low, Hailey Ring got to the rim for a basket, Hailey Ring converted a shot after getting fouled and Walker knocked down a free throw and suddenly the Panthers held a 29-12 lead.
Warrior Stella Clark halted the Pioneer run with a pair of baskets for Mohawk Trail but Pioneer ended the half with Sarah LaRocque draining a corner two to give the Panthers a 33-17 lead at the half.
Clark and Pioneer’s Walker took turns trading baskets to open the game, each scoring their teams first six points in the game.
A pair of late baskets by Warrior Mya Lesieur gave Mohawk Trail a 12-11 lead after eight minutes.
“Each game is a building block,” Churchill said. “You stack one on top of the other and hopefully build a good foundation not only for the future but for this season. I have nothing but respect for how hard they worked tonight.”
Both squads hunkered down defensively in the third quarter. Hailey Ring converted a trio of layups on the fast break to give Pioneer a 39-19 lead.
Mohawk Trail closed the third on a run of its own, with Clark scoring down low and making a free throw before Lesieur scored a pair in transition to cut the Panthers lead to 39-26 heading into the fourth.
The fourth quarter opened with a pair of baskets by Caroline Ring and Dunklee to halt the Warrior run. Mohawk Trail responded with a 7-0 run of its own behind two free throws by Lesieur, baskets by Clark and Octavia Crawford and a Rachel Pease free throw to cut the Pioneer lead to 43-33 with just under four minutes to play.
Hailey Ring made a free throw for the Panthers but Lesieur got to the rim for two and Isabelle Pettengill scored inside for the Warriors to make it 44-37 Pioneer with two minutes to go.
A pair of Hailey Ring free throws put Pioneer up 46-37 before Clark made a free throw and scored inside with one minute to play to cut the Panther lead to 46-40. Hailey Ring then went down the court and found Addison Harrington for an easy two, but the Warriors came back down and Pettengill made a layup with 30 seconds left to make it 48-42 Pioneer.
The Panthers missed their free throws after Mohawk Trail was forced to foul, but the Warriors were unable to get the rebound and Pioneer was able to run out the clock to earn the win.
“It’s huge for this team to play in these kind of games because they’re so young,” Churchill said. “To get more of these game situations is only going to make them better as we go along.”
Ware 50, Mahar 40 – A huge performance from Kendah Doane kept the Senators within striking distance, but host Ware held on for a 50-40 victory on Monday night.
Doane went for a whopping 26 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the double-double. Saylor Kegans added four points to go with nine r ebounds while Sophia Woods and Hayden Comeau tossed in two points each for Mahar. The Sens fell to 2-6 on the season.
Smith Academy 26, Athol 16 – Tied at halftime, the visiting Bears were held to just five points total over the final 16 minutes in a 26-16 loss to Smith Academy on Monday night in Hatfield.
Tied 11-11 at intermission, the Falcons outscored Athol by an 11-2 margin in the third quarter to take control.
Athol’s Emma Bacigalupo, the leading scorer in the Recorder area, led the way with 13 points, while Jenna Bonenfant added two points and Lizzy Mailloux also had a point.
Belchertown 39, Frontier 36 — The Orioles came to life in the fourth quarter, outscoring the Redhawks 12-4 in the frame to earn a comeback victory at Goodnow Gymasium on Monday.
Kylie Laford led Frontier with 11 points. Kaitlyn Mackin added seven points while Delaney Fifield had six points in the loss.