SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Frontier Regional boys basketball team could have gone away on Friday night.
The third-seeded Red Hawks faced a huge deficit at the end of the third quarter against No. 6 Monument Mountain in the Division 3 Western Mass. quarterfinals at Goodnow Gymnasium.
A miraculous comeback attempt came up short for the Red Hawks, as the Spartans held on, 67-59, to advance to the Curry Hicks Cage.
“They showed a lot of heart,” Frontier coach Ben Barshefsky said of his team. “They brought an intensity and a never quit desire. It was legendary.”
The Spartans went on a enormous 23-0 run in the third quarter, and led 55-29 at the end of the third frame.
But the Red Hawks began chipping away with aggressive defense and more assertive offense.
Frontier went on a 13-0 run to start the fourth quarter to get back into the game and ignite the student section.
Gabe Jones-Thomson was a huge catalyst during the comeback, scoring 15 of his 19 points in the fourth quarter.
A 3-pointer by Gabe Gochinski cut the lead to 64-59 with 32 seconds left.
But Monument did enough to hold on. The Spartans got a free throw from Dion Brown, and a lay up by Connor Hanavan to close out the Red Hawks.
Brown was a terror for the Red Hawks whether it was from deep, mid range, at the basket or the free throw line.
“It all starts with (Dion) Brown,” Barshefsky said. “He requires so much focus. On top of that, they have other guys that can knock down shots.”
Brown scored 27 points for the Spartans, hitting four 3-pointers and connecting on 7-for-10 from the free throw line.
The Spartans used their defense to fuel their potent offense, which went on two separate double-digit runs.
“Intensity on defense,” Brown said. “We are a fast, small team. We ran the floor the best we could. We knew if we kept our pressure up and our speed up we could run them out.”
After playing a little fast, the Spartans slowed things down with the lead.
“We slowed things down,” Brown said. “They were obviously coming back from a large deficit. Things weren’t going well for us so we knew time was our friend. We slowed it down an wasted the clock. It worked out.”
The Red Hawks outscored the Spartans 30-12 in the fourth quarter.
Point guard Iain Spearance’s ball-pressure helped create some turnovers for the Red Hawks in the fourth.
Spearance and Sean Richter (seven points) both scored four points in the fourth quarter. Donovan Hoffman scored 12 points for the Red Hawks, including a steal and a lay up that cut the Monument lead to 55-38 in the fourth.
“We stopped playing defense,” Monument Mountain coach Randy Koldys said. “Haven’t been in that position before. But they rose to the occasion. We will take it. Survive and advance is all there is to it.”
Monument advances to play No. 2 Sabis International on Wednesday at 5 p.m. at the Curry Hicks Cage on the campus of UMass.
The Spartans had a sizable road crowd at Goodnow, which went crazy during the team’s 23-0 run.
“We got in passing lanes and defended really hard,” Koldys said. “We thought if we put some defensive pressure on their guards we could get some turnovers.”
Hanavan (13 points) and Caden Gidarakus (14 points) were both in double-figures for the Spartans.
Peter Carey scored eight points for the Red Hawks, and left the game in the third quarter with an ankle injury.
Carey returned to the game in the fourth quarter after getting taped up.
Seniors Gochinski, Hoffman, Brett Robinson, Richter, Jones-Thomson, Collin Boudreau and Owen Walkowicz played their final game for the Red Hawks.
“I have known all of them since their early elementary school careers,” Barshefsky said. “They have grown into wonderful young men and I wish them the best of luck.”
