A big first quarter led to a nice rebound performance for the Franklin Tech girls basketball team on Wednesday.

Two nights removed from suffering their first loss of the season to Mount Everett, the Eagles stormed out to a 17-4 lead after one quarter and cruised to a 52-33 independent victory over Pathfinder in Thorndike.

“It was nice to see us rebound from our performance [against Mount Everett],” Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said. “The girls executed the offense much better this time around, and now we’re able to shift our focus to a big week next week.”

Franklin Tech (9-1) will host Pioneer on Tuesday with first place in the Franklin County League South up for grabs.

Hannah Gilbert paced Tech with 18 points in Wednesday’s win, while Lea Chapman posted a double-double of 12 points and 14 rebounds while also recording five steals. Kate Trudeau had a nice outing, as she went for six points, eight rebounds and eight steals.

Wrestling

Mahar 60, Franklin Tech 24 — Elias Roberts (126), Domanic Cacciolfi (138), Sayyid Roberts (160), Tristen Gaj (152), Luke Chiodo (160), Xander Roberts (170), Cameron Doyle (195) and Mateo Torres (285) all won their respective matches to lift the Senators past the Eagles in Turners Wednesday. 

Carsten Couture (106), Dillon Gagnon (132), Collin Eddy (182) and Brody Williams (220) picked up wins for Franklin Tech. 

Deerfield results

The Deerfield Academy boys hockey team picked up its first win of 2023 on Wednesday, defeating Loomis, 4-1. 

DA’s boys basketball team won its third straight game Wednesday, picking up a 62-49 win over Nobles. The Big Green girls basketball team fell to Taft, 55-40. In swimming, the DA boys beat Suffield, 108-68, while the girls also beat Suffield, 109-74. 

Alpine skiing

Mt. Institute League

The Northfield Mount Hermon alpine ski teams swept both individual races at the Mt. Institute Ski League on Wednesday at Berkshire East.

Elianna Umana Kimura took first in the girls race for NMH (88.47 seconds), helping the Hoggers to a first-place team finish with 238 points. Deerfield Academy was second (211 points), led by Booie Blazak’s fifth-place performance. NMH’s Ellie Pinkham was the runner-up behind Umana Kimura.

On the boys side, DA took first as a team with 253 points with Matt Keene (third place) and Johnny Monty (fourth) setting the tone. NMH placed second (247), led by overall winner Ryan Choi (85.03).

Late Wednesday results

Boys basketball

Mahar 51, Drury 49 — The Senators went on the road and knocked off the defending Hampshire League South champions in North Adams Tuesday. 

Mahar trailed 22-21 at the half before taking a 39-34 lead into the fourth quarter. 

"This was a big one for us,” Senators coach Chad Softic said. “We've struggled maintaining consistency especially when faced with ball pressure but tonight we handled it well and really got after it on the defensive end. I’ve been around Western Mass. basketball for a long time and its never easy getting a win in Drury's building, period. We showed a lot of mental toughness tonight and it’s definitely something we can build on.”

Will Barnes put up 15 points in the win, with Hunter Martin (13) and Connor Sluder (10) joining him in double-figures. Lucas Isrow tallied six points while Gavin Sullivan added five points for Mahar. 

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