Good morning!
The top-ranked Pioneer boys basketball team isn’t looking ahead, not yet, but at this writing the only other undefeated team in Division 5 is J.J. Duggan Academy of Springfield. The Jayhawks are coached by Lavar Click-Bruce, a Ward 5 City Councilor from Sixteen Acres.

If they continue their winning ways, Pioneer will be 17-0 and the Jayhawks will be 15-0 when they meet on Feb. 10, close to where the sport was invented in 1891. 

Going into last night’s tilt at Mahar, the Panthers had won 12 straight and were in the midst of playing eight games in 16 days. “I keep telling them we’re gonna lose a game,” said coach Scott Thayer. “It’s gonna happen. Foul trouble, poor shooting, player sickness… Reality and expectations must coexist.

“It’s a competitive league. Mahar’s turned it around with (coach) Chad Softic, and Frontier’s playing well with Josh Morse.”

Thayer’s a local boy, born and raised in Northfield and a product of the public school system and NMH. He played hoops at Keene State and transferred to Springfield College, and was 23 years old when he became an assistant coach at Pioneer.

“Playing and teaching are two different things. Once I got my feet wet I was hooked. I moved on to Greenfield High School for 16 years where I met my future wife (Erin) and father-in-law (Tom Suchanek). We went to the state finals and lost to Charlestown, then about 10 years ago the Pioneer job opened up.”

Thayer has over 300 wins, and on-court officials understand why he’s a five-time coach of the year. “In the referee community, Scott is on the Mt. Rushmore of schoolboy coaches in the Pioneer Valley,” said Jerry Burgess, a longtime high school and college official. “When he summons you over to discuss a 50/50 call, you probably got it wrong, but it’s his respect and presentation that’s unique.”

The seven-deep Panthers have been together since the fourth grade. “I’m proud to have been part of that development,” said Thayer. “They’ve been coached the right way— for the joy of the sport.”

Last season his son Brayden scored his 1,000th point, and assistant coach Fred Redeker’s nephew Kurt will likely reach that mark by season’s end.

“Everyone knows their role and is selfless and playing to an MVP level,” Thayer said of Ben Werner, Alex McClelland, Judah Glenn, Jackson Glazier and Will Glazier. “Defend and rebound gets us flowing free and easy, and when you get into that pattern it’s a difficult style to play against.”

“Defense is his mantra,” said Burgess. “His in-game adjustments are usually spot-on, and if he sees a weakness he’ll call a timeout and correct it.”

“It’s like 5-on-7,” said Bear Country’s Jeff Tirrell on Wednesday as Pioneer methodically pulled away from host Greenfield and won, 61-44.

Last year’s Panthers were bounced in the state semis by the eventual champion New Mission High School of Boston.

“We still haven’t accomplished anything yet,” said Thayer.    

“The community support’s been tremendous. They really show up for us on the road. Sometimes we have more fans than the home team.”

Soon the road will lead to the Tsongas Center in Lowell, where Panther Nation will be cheering for expectations and reality to merge into a state championship.

Poetic justice was rendered in Providence last week when UMass-Lowell’s Matt Crasa was mucking along the boards and was cross-checked twice from behind by Hudson Malinoski. After the second hit, Crasa whipped around and Malinoski flopped like he’d been hit by an elephant rifle. The River Hawks killed the slashing penalty on Crasa and Pierson Brandon scored with 10 seconds left for the 1-0 win.

 Jamin Hemenway managed to get into the CFP championship in Atlanta, but it wasn’t easy. Hemenway grabbed a FedEx mailer and Sharpie, scribbled “Need One Ticket” and walked around Mercedes-Benz Stadium for three hours until he got a bite.

“I have no idea how scalping is illegal but this graft isn’t,” he said of the price markups. “Conservatively, let’s say TicketMaster processed 20,000 tickets for the game and the average gouge was $350 per ticket. That’s $7 million in junk fees for one game.

“It’s the same for DoorDash and GrubHub and other food delivery apps— but not for Uber or Lyft. They screw the drivers, not the passengers.”

Fans will be back at Tenney Field in Brattleboro this summer when the historic ballpark’s grandstand reopens. The repairs forced American Legion Post 5 to be a traveling road show last summer with games in Dummerston, Townsend, and Hinsdale, N.H.

“Brattleboro is a baseball town and deserves a first class showcase for the game,” wrote Randolph T. Holhut of the Brattleboro Commons. “Reopening the grandstand closed to spectators since 2017 will help state and local Babe Ruth and Legion tournaments return to town.”

At the Senior Bowl in Mobile, BSJ’s Mike Giardi has been impressed by RB Damien Martinez who transferred from Oregon State to the U for a reported $465,000. “He’ll have to answer to some of the stuff that happened off the field,” said Girardi. “Theres a least one DUI, but he runs hard and he runs angry and there’s a physicality to him.” The game kicks off today at 2:30 p.m.

SQUIBBERS: UMass hockey fans who heard Brock Hines back on the air with Donnie Moorhouse last night are hoping it was more than just a cameo. … Phil Mushnick reports that Saskatchewan on-ice hockey officials 16-and-under are wearing green armbands to help curb verbal abuse from parents and coaches. …. Ross Tucker was okay with Liam Coen taking the Jags job after promising he’d stay as the OC in Tampa Bay: “I have seen teams screw over players and coaches so many times that I’m fine with what Liam Coen did.” …  Coen probably won’t be giving his friend and former UMass teammate Scott Woodward a spot on the staff. The former Kentucky wideouts coach was 6-2 in his first season as head coach at the Middlesex School in Concord. … UMass hockey coach Greg Carvel wrote in his most recent newsletter: “I have no doubt that this team is good enough to make the tournament.”  After hosting Merrimack last night, the Minutemen travel 310 miles north to play the Black Bears tomorrow at 4 p.m. in Orono. …. One of Joe Benigno’s listeners on WFAN called with his list of the six greatest Italian ballplayers born and raised in New York or Long Island: Phil Rizzuto, Joe Pepitone, John Franco, Rico Petrocelli, Craig Biggio and Frank “Sweet Music” Viola. … Irad Ortiz Jr. rode White Abarrio ($7.60) to a one length win in the $3 million Pegasus Stakes on Saturday. … Bob Baffert’s three-year-old colt, Citizen Bull, is the Kentucky Derby points leader with three wins in four starts. … Mike Francesa is grousing about high prices like the rest of us. “I just got an email asking if I want to go to the Super Bowl and get a hotel for three days and sit in the nosebleeds for $11,000 a person.” … I’d rather be stuck in traffic than watch the Super Bowl, which reminds me to wish y’all a happy Groundhog Day.

Chip Ainsworth is an award-winning columnist who has penned his observations about sports for decades in the Pioneer Valley. He can be reached at chipjet715@icloud.com