It came down to the wire between two of the top teams in the Franklin County League South on Tuesday in Turners Falls. 

The Franklin Tech girls basketball team held a 39-30 lead heading into the fourth quarter against Pioneer, but the Panthers showed up in the final eight minutes of play. Addison Harrington sank a pair of free throws with five minutes to go, cutting the Eagle lead to 42-41. 

Franklin Tech outscored Pioneer 9-8 in the final five minutes, however, to hang on for a 51-49 victory. 

"Both teams battled tonight," Tech coach Joe Gamache said. "It came down to the final shot at the buzzer and thankfully it didn't fall. Proud of our girls' effort. We got in foul trouble but we had girls come in and execute. They made some great adjustments." 

The Eagles press gave the Panthers trouble early in the contest, with Tech creating turnovers to take an early 10-2 lead. Pioneer settled into the game from that point on, though the Eagles had a 20-11 lead at the end of the first quarter. 

Defense dominated the second quarter, with the Panther press forcing turnovers. Franklin Tech led 28-21 at the half. Both squads traded baskets throughout the third quarter, with the Eagles leading 39-30 going into the fourth. 

Hailey Ring and Whitney Dunklee got things started for the Panthers in the fourth quarter, scoring back-to-back baskets. 

Kendra Campbell followed it up with a layup and a free throw for Tech to extend the lead to 42-34 but Pioneer answered with a 7-0 run behind a 3 from Ring, a basket from Laura Kahler and Harrington's two free throws. 

Campbell answered with a bucket before Hannah Gilbert and Lea Chapman each sank a free throw, putting the Eagles up 47-41 with four minutes to play. 

Kyler McClelland wouldn't let Tech pull away, knocking down a 3 to make it a 47-44 game. Gilbert and Chapman each made a basket for Tech but McClelland answered with another 3, cutting the Tech lead to 51-47 with three minutes to go. Sophia Walker then scored down low with just over a minute to play to cut the lead to 51-49. 

Pioneer had the ball with 12 seconds remaining with a chance to tie or win the game, but Chapman came up with the big play defensively for Franklin Tech, stealing the ball and getting fouled with four seconds to go. 

Chapman missed both at the line, but Ring's shot at the buzzer fell short, with the Eagles holding on for a 51-49 victory. 

Gilbert had a team-high 14 points for Franklin Tech, with Campbell and Chapman each adding 13 points. McClelland tallied 14 points, Ring scored 11 points and Harrington chipped in eight points for the Panthers. 

Quaboag 53, Mahar 40 — Quaboag pulled away in the third quarter, outscoring the Senators 21-11 after trailing 21-17 at the half, allowing it to pull away with an independent win over Mahar. 

Hayden Comeau scored 14 points in the loss, with Kendrah Doane chipping in 11 points, Nevaeh Scribner tallied nine points and Alivia Patch scored six points for the Senators. 

Turners 43, Smith Academy 32 – A huge second quarter saw the Thunder outscore Smith by an 18-3 margin, and Turners held the Falcons at arm’s length en route to the victory.

The Thunder led 26-6 at halftime.

Lily Spera paced the offensive attack with 16 points, including seven in the big second quarter. Taylor Greene registered 12 points for the Thunder, and Steph Peterson tossed in eight.

Smith’s Emma Moynihan scored 12 points for the visitors.

Hopkins 33, Greenfield 32 — The Green Wave held the Golden Hawks to just three points in the fourth quarter, but Hopkins was conversely able to shut down the Greenfield offense and hold it to five points in the final eight minutes, with the Green Wave falling in Hadley Tuesday. 

Amber Bergeron tallied 12 points for Greenfield, with Elderina Cecunjanin adding eight points, Carly Blanchard scoring six points and Josie Cloutier finishing with three in the loss. 

Boys basketball

Pioneer 60, Hoosac 53 – In what could be a Western Mass. Class D tournament preview, the Panthers went on the road and earned a hard-fought victory on Tuesday in Cheshire.

Pioneer led 26-22 at halftime, and used a 20-point third quarter to create separation. The Panthers led by as many as 14 points in the second half and made free throws down the stretch to seal the deal.

“We talked about attacking their defense,” Pioneer coach Scott Thayer said. “Early we were just kind of moving the ball to get in a shot, and then in the third quarter we attacked them.”

Brayden Thayer led the way offensively with 18 points, while Josh Wood had 12 points and Kurt Redeker tossed in 10. Hugh Cyhowski added seven points and Sam Glazier scored six in the victory for Pioneer (8-1).

Athol 56, Pathfinder 43 – The visiting Bears stormed out to a 35-18 halftime lead, and snagged a comfortable road victory on Tuesday in Thorndike.

Angel Castillo poured in 16 points, while Conall Tontodonato followed with 15 points in the victory. Logan Cormier made it three Athol scorers in double figures with 12 points.

The Bears led 19-7 after one quarter.

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