HATFIELD — Frontier Regional junior center Carsten Carey had 22 points and 14 rebounds to pave the way to 58-39 win over Smith Academy, Monday night.
The Falcons had no answer for the 6-foot-6 Carey, whose daunting interior presence on both ends of the floor resulted in the sizeable gap on the scoreboard.
“I think our system is a product of the personnel that we have,” Frontier coach Brad Barshefsky said. “We would be doing ourselves a disservice to not continuously work to get to the ball to the best big guy in (Division 3) Western Mass.”
Carey scored seven points in the second quarter alone, helping the Red Hawks (13-7, 7-1 Hampshire North) pull away after a closely contested opening frame. He entered the halftime break with seven rebounds, and also had a pair of emphatic first-half blocks that helped to intimidate Smith attackers.
“(Carsten) is definitely our rock down low,” said Red Hawks captain Jared Muzyka, who finished with four points and eight rebounds. “We need him to do what we do best, working the ball inside. … “Feeding him the ball is pretty much our go-to.”
A 10-3 Frontier run in the first five minutes of the second frame created its first double-digit lead, one the team maintained for the remainder of the game. Smith pulled within 12 midway through the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer from junior Carter Woodward (team-high 17 points), but the deficit proved insurmountable.
With Monday night’s loss and Greenfield’s 70-43 victory over Athol, Smith (9-11, 5-3 Hampshire North) was eliminated from playoff contention.
Only two players — Matt Bouley and Hunter Zygmont — are graduating off the Falcons’ roster, and coach Matt Zerneri is confident that his relatively young team will continue to grow in the offseason.
“When you look at where we came from last year, we made huge strides,” Zerneri said. “It’s a huge difference, and they’re only going to get better. … As long as we keep working, keep striving to improve, we’ll have a lot more success.”
The Red Hawks move on to the tournament as Hampshire North champions. Tournament seeds will be announced Saturday, at noon at Springfield Central.
“It’s a brand new season, there’s always room for growth whether it’s with the players or coaches,” Barshefsky said. “So, we’ll give them a day off and a chance to enjoy the league title, and then back to work on Wednesday.”