UMass hockey: Minutemen close out regular season with pivotal series at Maine

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

Hockey East Tournament implications are on the line for the Massachusetts hockey team when it closes out its regular season with Maine this weekend. The Minutemen enter the weekend in a tie with Providence for fourth place in the league with 36...

UMass basketball: Shorthanded Minutemen survive, edge Fordham 66-64 to reach 20 wins

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — There was a lot on the line heading into the UMass men’s basketball team’s matchup with Fordham on Wednesday night at the Mullins Center.The Minutemen were looking for their first 20-win season in 10 years, their first three-game conference...

MIAA girls basketball: Big first half powers No. 5 Westport past No. 12 Franklin Tech, 50-31, in Div. 5 Round of 16

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

WESTPORT — The Westport defense made life difficult for the Franklin Tech girls basketball team on Wednesday in the MIAA Division 5 Round of 16.The fifth-seeded Wildcats smothered the No. 12 Eagles and didn't give them any easy looks at the rim early,...

UMass basketball: Minutewomen advance in Atlantic 10 tourney with 54-49 win over La Salle

By GARRETT COTE

The previous two times the UMass women’s basketball team played La Salle this season, the Minutewomen held late leads in the fourth quarter and watched them slip away en route to two heartbreaking conference defeats.But on Wednesday afternoon in...

MIAA boys basketball: Mahar locks down, pulls away from Old Colony to reach Div. 5 quarters (PHOTOS)

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

ORANGE — The Mahar boys basketball team seems to get stronger and stronger as the games progress. Hosting 21st-ranked Old Colony on Tuesday in the MIAA Div. 5 Round of 16, the No. 5 Senators found themselves trailing 21-17 midway through the second...

MIAA boys basketball: Defense propels Pioneer past Athol, into Div. 5 Elite Eight for 2nd consecutive year (PHOTOS)

By GARRETT COTE

NORTHFIELD — Late in the second quarter, No. 14 Athol found itself down just two points after cutting into No. 3 Pioneer’s once eight-point lead.During the next stoppage, Panthers head coach Scott Thayer belted out “everybody relax” to his team...

Bulletin board: Berkshire Highlands Pentathlon one month away

Registration is underway for the 2024 Berkshire Highlands Pentathlon.The race, which is scheduled for Saturday, April 6 at Berkshire East, is five events: a 4.5 mile run, an 18 mile bicycle road ride, a two mile river paddle, a two mile adventure run...

Fit to Play with Jim Johnson: Our Bodies At Risk

I have studied the human body for around 60 years and I am still in awe. Evolution has given us awesome bodies that move with fluidity and grace, withstand heat, cold, and altitude, and possess the ability to adapt to almost any environment. Our...

UMass basketball: Minutewomen looking to end season strong at Atlantic 10 tourney

By GARRETT COTE

It’s been a complete turnaround from last season, and not the turnaround the UMass women’s basketball team had hoped for.It was going to be almost impossible to replicate the success the 2022-23 team had last winter (program record in wins, Atlantic...

UMass basketball: Minutemen look to get to 20 wins in regular season finale against Fordham

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — Only three scholarship players were set to return from last season’s UMass men’s basketball team. Just as fans did following each disappointing loss throughout the 2022-23 campaign, players filed for the exits following one final stinker in...

MIAA girls basketball: Mahar, Frontier suffer road state tournament losses

Top-seeded Hoosac Valley certainly looked the part on Monday night.The Hurricanes shook off a strong start from visiting Mahar, turning a two-point lead after one quarter into a 32-13 halftime advantage.Hoosac pulled away for a 63-32 victory over the...

MIAA girls basketball: Maynard holds off charging Pioneer 42-41 in Division 5 Round of 16

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

MAYNARD — The Pioneer girls basketball team seemed to have a counter for every punch Maynard threw on Monday in the MIAA Division 5 Round of 16. The seventh-seeded Tigers led 33-27 going into the fourth quarter, and while they held a lead throughout...

Local roundup: Jocelyn Antes, Mia Marigliano compete in inaugural New England Girls Wrestling Championship

The inaugural New England Interscholastic Girls Wrestling Championship took place on Friday and Saturday at Providence Career & Technical Academy in Rhode Island, with a pair of local athletes competing. Frontier’s Jocelyn Antes and Franklin Tech’s...

UMass hockey: Ryan Ufko’s second OT winner in as many nights sends Minutemen past Lowell

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — With the UMass hockey team awaiting an offensive zone faceoff while on the power play in overtime, UMass Lowell elected to take a timeout to talk over its defensive strategy for the biggest moment in the game.Minutemen defenseman Ryan Ufko...

UMass basketball: Matt Cross, Daniel Hankins-Sanford make plays late as Minutemen win at Davidson for first time since 1998

By GARRETT COTE

Trailing by three points with under a minute to go, the UMass men’s basketball team turned to one player to carry them to a comeback victory.That would be Matt Cross, who nailed four consecutive free throws as part of his game-high 26 points to boost...

UMass’ NIL Collectives excited about move to the MAC: “If we get this right, we have a bright future”

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — All signs pointed to something happening soon, but Corey Schneider had no idea it would be that soon.At a Feb. 22 event held at the UMass Club in Boston, nearly the entire UMass Board of Trustees was in attendance – which is fairly unusual,...

MIAA Div. 5 boys basketball: Brayden Thayer joins the 1,000 point club in Pioneer’s 65-37 Round of 32 win over Fenway (PHOTOS)

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

NORTHFIELD — It’ll be a birthday Pioneer Valley Regional junior Brayden Thayer will never forget. It was going to take a big year offensively for Thayer to become the 20th player in Pioneer history to hit the 1,000 point mark. He entered the season...

State Tournament Roundup: Franklin Tech girls basketball cruises past PV Christian

By GEORGE MILLER

TURNERS FALLS — The only real difficulty for Franklin Tech came in the fourth quarter Friday night, but oh, what a considerable difficulty it was.Pioneer Valley Christian, trailing 44-20 after three quarters, flew back into contention on the strength...

MIAA Div. 5 boys basketball: Dominant all-around performance sends Mahar past Smith Academy, 60-15

CONNOR PIGNATELLO

ORANGE – The Mahar boys basketball team sprinted out to a 19-3 first quarter lead and didn’t look back, holding Smith Academy to just four made field goals in a 60-15 victory on Friday night in the MIAA Division 5 Round of 32.No. 5 Mahar (16-5)...

Bulletin Board: WesternMass Ballers AAU basketball team holding tryouts Mar. 9-10

The WesternMass Ballers, a new AAU boys basketball program based in Montague, is holding tryouts on March 9-10 at Turners Falls High School. The tryouts for those in grades 6-7 will run from noon-2 p.m. while tryouts for those in grades 8-11 run from...