The Pioneer boys basketball team took the defending Div. 5 state tournament runner-ups to the wire on Thursday in Northfield. 

Paulo Freire led nearly the entire game, holding a 49-41 advantage going into the fourth quarter, but the Panthers kept chipping away, cutting the lead to 57-56 with under a minute to go. 

With 20 seconds to play, Pioneer’s Brayden Thayer got the ball on the baseline, took a dribble in and drained the midrange shot to put the Panthers ahead 58-57, their first lead of the game. 

Paulo got the ball down court, called a timeout and executed by finding a man for a cutting layup in the final seconds. Pioneer was unable to get a shot up at the buzzer, falling 59-58 in the independent contest. 

“That’s a game we schedule to see where we’re at,” Panther coach Scott Thayer said. “Once we got acclimated to their athleticism we settled down in the second half. We made a run but couldn’t make that stop in the last couple seconds. It’s not one play that loses a game. It’s an accumulation of them. It’s disappointing to lose but we learned quite a bit about ourselves.” 

Paulo led 18-11 after eight minutes and 32-23 going into the half. 

Thayer led Pioneer in scoring, finishing with 16 points. Josh Wood tallied 12 points, Kurt Redeker and Alex McClelland each scored eight points, Gavin Gammell and Diego Laffitte both had five points and Hugh Cyhowski added four points for the Panthers. 

Girls basketball

Franklin Tech 45, Smith Academy 25 — Kendra Campbell and Lea Chapman each recorded double-doubles for the Eagles, Campbell scoring 10 points and snatching 10 rebounds while Chapman had 11 points and 11 rebounds to propel Tech to a Franklin County League South victory in Turners Thursday. 

Hannah Gilbert joined them in double-figures with 10 points while Kaitlin Trudeau tallied seven points, Kyra Goodell scored five points and Lilianna Inman had two points in the victory. 

Emma Moynihan had eight points, Madison Zanoni scored seven points, Anna Scagel tallied six points and Alexa Jagodzinski added four points for Smith Academy. 

Putnam 62, Mohawk Trail 28 —   The Beavers raced out to a 39-6 lead at the half to pull away with a Franklin County League South win over the Warriors in Buckland Thursday. 

Bella Pettengill and Rachel Pease each scored 11 points for Mohawk Trail, with Grace Davenport chipping in four points and Payton Tierney scoring two points in the loss. 

Turners 44, Pioneer 33 — Behind 17 points from Taylor Greene and 14 from Madi Liimatainen, the Thunder earned a Franklin County League South win over the visiting Panthers Thursday. 

Turners led 28-19 at the half. 

Lily Spera tossed in six points while Steph Peterson added four points in the victory. Kyler McClelland led Pioneer with 15 points, with Addie Harrington adding six points and Sofia Walker tacking on five points in the defeat. 

Palmer 49, Mahar 44 — It was a back-and-forth affair in Palmer on Thursday, with the Senators trailing 37-33 going into the third quarter before Palmer held on to come away with a Franklin County League North win. 

Hayden Comeau led the way with 12 points for Ma  har, with Kendrah Doane adding 11 points. Nevaeh Scribner scored 10 points while Sophia Woods chipped in six points in the loss.  

Wrestling

Franklin Tech 42, Granby 42 — Trailing 42-36 heading into the final match, Eagle Josh Lynde secured a first period pin to earn a tie with the Rams on Thursday in Granby. 

Zaydrien Alamed (126), Jackson Morey (145),  Jacob Martin (152), Cam May (160) and Collin Eddy (182) each secured wins via pin for Franklin Tech. 

Mahar 54, Frontier 27 — Abduli Gilmore, Colby Chaisson and Dom Cacciolfi picked up wins for the Senators, who defeated the Redhawks in Orange Thursday. 

Wyatt Finch, Ian Paciorek, Connor Hoffman, Jake Mattson and Javion Cabrera each won their match for Frontier. 

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