Having seven seniors on your team is a luxury for Smith Academy coach Matt Zerneri. 

The Falcons fell behind 30-10 on Tuesday against Turners, but the veteran-laden team was able to stay the course and ultimately come back to earn a victory. On Wednesday against Athol, Smith Academy was able to weather a pair of Bear storms to come away with a second straight win. 

The Falcons led 26-16 at the half, but Ryan Belina opened the third quarter with a basket before Griffin Smiarowski drained back-to-back 3’s, putting Smith ahead, 34-16, early in the second half. 

The Bears — playing on their senior night — wouldn’t go down that easy, however. Athol answered with a 15-2 run, spearheaded by baskets from Angel Castillo, Conall Tontodonato, Logan Cormier and Ben Kearney, to cut the lead to 36-31. 

The Falcons didn’t panic despite the Bear onslaught, with Gregory Stone sinking three free throws in the final seconds of the third to give Smith a 42-35 lead going into the fourth quarter. 

Athol and the Falcons traded baskets throughout the fourth quarter, with Smith letting it get as close as 44-39 before going on a run to break away with a 62-46 Hampshire League North win at Mallet Gymnasium. 

“Basketball is a game of runs,” Zerneri said. “We just have to try to extend our longer than theirs. They can handle those runs. They’re seniors so I don’t have to call timeouts to settle things down and we can just play through it. We fought hard and were able to pull away in the fourth.” 

Smiarowski had the hot hand for Smith, knocking down five 3’s to finish with 21 points. Riley Intrator tacked on 20 points while Belina scored 14 points for the Falcons.

“They’re a very good offensive shooting team,” Athol coach Brian Patria said. “Smiarowski is one of the top scorers in our league. We tried to shut him down and I thought we did a decent job but he still ended up with 21. We had a tough time guarding Intrator. He’s an explosive dribble penetrator and Smith is a talented team.” 

After falling behind 16-10 at the end of the first quarter, the Bears were limited to just six points in the second quarter before their offense came to life in the second half. 

Castillo led the way with 12 points for Athol while Tontodonato and Colby Goodwin each scored 10 points. Kearney and Cormier each chipped in seven points. 

“Offensively we struggled in the first half to get good looks at the basket,” Patria said. “We were moving ball fine but weren’t attacking it their zone with kicks. Conall stepped in a lot to get us baskets. The kids showed resiliency there in the second half. These kids will scratch and claw and won’t give up. That starts with our three seniors, Conall, Jacob Knowles and Aedan Erickson.”

The Bears won’t have to wait long to try to avenge the loss, squaring off with the Falcons next Tuesday in Hatfield. 

Athol’s JV team beat Smith, 50-33, on Wednesday. 

Greenfield 68, Baystate Academy 55 — Caleb Thomas and Jon Breor gave Baystate Academy fits on Wednesday. 

Both Thomas and Breor each went off for 25 points, lifting the Green Wave to an independent win in Springfield. 

Greenfield led 38-26 at the half. 

Jackson Campbell knocked down three 3’s to finish with 11 points, Oli Postera recorded four points and Caleb Murray and Petru Cojocaru both had two points in the victory. 

Girls basketball

Mohawk Trail 47, Smith Voc 42 – Three players scored in double figures, and the Warriors picked up their first victory of the season on Wednesday night thanks to an impressive 47-42 overtime win over the Vikings in Buckland.

Valerie Bzomowski led the way with 14 points for Mohawk Trail (1-14), all coming in the second half, while Bella Pettengill scored 12 points and Natalie Lanoue added 10. Rachel Pease tossed in five points for the Warriors, which overcame a 24-11 halftime deficit. The hosts held Smith to just two points in the third quarter.

Frontier 47, Hopkins 29 – It was a memorable Senior Night for the Redhawks on Wednesday night at Goodnow Gymnasium.

Frontier built a 26-9 halftime lead and cruised to a 17-point victory over the Golden Hawks.

Kylie Laford scored a team-high 15 points in the win. Claire Kirkendall tossed in 11 points, Cadi Wells-Robinson scored six points while Hailey Hutkoski and Skyler Steele both had three points for the Redhawks.

Seniors Cadi Wells-Robinson and Laford were honored prior to Wednesday’s win.

“Both left their hearts on the floor tonight,” said Frontier coach Dave Machon. “I’m very proud to be their coach. Their effort tonight was that of a couple of dedicated athletes likely playing for the last time in their home floor. It was fun to watch.”

Preps

Deerfield results

The Deerfield Academy girls hockey team notched a 1-0 win over Westminster in NEPSAC action on Wednesday. The boys hockey team fell to Loomis Chaffee, 2-1.

Elsewhere, the boys basketball team took down Taft, 60-46, and the girls team dropped a 51-45 decision to Suffield. The Big Green swept squash matches, with the boys team notching a 7-0 win over Avon and the girls team edging Loomis Chaffee, 4-3.

Alpine skiing

Mt. Institute results

Northfield Mount Hermon School’s Ryan Choi dominated the field in Wednesday’s Mount Institute Ski League race at Berkshire East.

Choi posted a winning two-run combined time of 1:34.92.

Deerfield Academy’s Johnny Monty was second (1:36.79) and Amherst’s Beckett Baird was third racing as an independent (1:39.46).

NMH’s Ellie Pinkham took second in the girls’ race (1:43.22), while teammates Katalin Mazansky (third, 1:45.18) and Eliann Umana Kimura (fourth, 1:45.98) were right behind.

DA’s Jing Wang took fifth and Ilsa Borgen was sixth.

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