High schools: Northampton girls basketball hands Minnechaug first loss

Staff reports

Jill McGrath scored 13 points, and the Northampton girls basketball team handed Minnechaug its first loss of the season, 47-42, in Wilbraham on Thursday.

The Blue Devils (7-3) and Flacons (9-1) were tied at 40 with a minute left. Northampton made a stop, then Caroline Tanner drove to the basket and drew a foul before sinking both free throws. Sophomore Riley Allen, who finished with 10 points, also made a clutch shot down the stretch.

Northampton bounced back from a 7-0 hole to start the game and a five-point deficit at halftime. The Blue Devils also snapped a two-game losing streak.

Senior Jill McGrath led Northampton with 13 points, while Amanda Mieczkowski had seven and orchestrated the offense, breaking Minnechaug’s press.

Gateway 37, Smith Vocational 24 – Donna Viel’s 12 points led the way for Gateway (6-5, 4-1 Tri-County South).

Peyton Bucko contributed from behind the arc for the Gators, finishing with 11 points and three 3-pointers. 

Morgan Roberts and Ella Sherman each scored six points for Smith Vocational (4-7, 2-3 Tri-County South).

Hampshire Regional 58, Belchertown 38 — Maddie Pond made four 3s and scored 22 points to lead the Raiders to a road win. Delaney Marek had 11 points for Hampshire (8-4, 4-0 Suburban).

Gina Camerota scored 17 points for the Orioles (3-8, 0-3), while Meredith Medina added eight.

Frontier Regional 47, Ware 44 — A three-pointer late in the fourth quarter from Sierra Warren was the difference for Frontier Regional (6-3). Marie Diemand scored 19 points to lead the way for the Red Hawks.

Ameilia Sobiesky added 11 points, Kaitlyn Mackin put up seven. Warren finished with five points.

Boys basketball

Hopkins Academy 54, Smith Academy 39 – Hopkins Academy (8-5) was led by Andrew Ciaglo and Addison Phifer, both scored 13 points. Colin Earle and Nate Walden added 10 and nine points, respectively.

Caden Guimond scored 17 points for Smith Academy (2-9) and made two 3-pointers. 

The Falcons were supported by eight points from Nate Moynihan and four from Aiden Pedersen who also came away with eight rebounds.

Frontier Regional 74, Pioneer Regional 34 — Peter Carey scored 16 points, as the Red Hawks moved within a win of qualifying for the postseason.

Gabe Gochinski added a career-high 13 points and three 3s for Frontier (9-3).

Sean Richter (12 points) and Brett Robinson (eight points) each hit two 3s.

Collin Boudreau had nine points.

St Mary’s 65, Gateway Regional 63 — The Gators (2-11, 1-4 Tri-County South) missed eight foul shots in the fourth quarter.

Gateway had a chance to win with a 3 as time expired, but the shot fell short.

Evan Cortis scored 26 points to go along with 20 rebounds for the Gators. Jayden Santiago-Lopez added 16 points and Taylor Shedd tacked on 16. .

Northampton 55, Pope Francis 41 — Jake Brittain scored 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds for the Blue Devils. Seth Finnessey had 10 points and nine rebounds. Justyn Rankins added nine points for Northampton (4-7, 1-1 Valley) and Connor Tobin scored eight.

Belchertown 59, Athol 57 — After a late shot from Athol sent the game into overtime, Belchertown (4-5) converted a jump shot with just under five seconds left in the extra period to set them ahead.

Jordan Lanoue paced Belchertown’s offense with 25 points, supported by 14 points from Nathan Schiffer and 10 points from Owen Raines. 

Putnam 60, Amherst 41 – Zayd Sadiq contributed 13 points with two free throws for Amherst Regional (4-6, 1-1 Valley League). 

Evan Stewart and Tabor Bowman added nine and eight points, respectively.

Hockey

Belchertown 4, Agawam 0 – Ethan Rajpold highlighted the night with 31 saves in the shutout for Belchertown (5-3-1).

James Greene led the Orioles with two goals and one assist. Frances Henderson added a goal along with an assist. Frankie Nigro also scored, and Colby Massy dished out an assist.

Boys basketball

Northampton 55, Pope Francis 41

Pope Francis (1-9, 0-2 Valley)

D. Davis 2-3-7, Foster 1-0-2, Sarlan 1-0-2, N. Davis 4-0-8, Vedovelli 2-1-6, Love 2-0-6, Giordano 2-1-5, LaFlech 1-2-5. Totals 15-7-41

Northampton (4-7, 1-1)

Brittain 7-3-19, Rankins 3-0-9, Bullock, 1-0-2, Finnessey 3-4-10, Cancel 1-0-3, Tobin 3-0-8, Cowles 1-0-2, Abrams 1-0-2, Kelleher-Mochak 0-0-0, Bryce 0-0-0, Lanier 0-0-0, James-Salus 0-0-0. Totals 20-7-55

3-Pointers—Pope Francis 4 (Love, Vedovelli, LaFlech), Northampton 8 (Rankins 3, Tobin 2, Brittain 2, Cancel)

Hopkins Academy 54,
Smith Academy 39

Smith Academy (2-9)

Guimond 7-1-17, Moynihan 2-2-8, Pedersen 2-0-4, Smiarowski 1-0-3, Ferrara 1-0-3, Jeffress 1-0-2, Intrator 1-0-2, Dobson 0-0-0, Cavanaugh 0-0-0. Totals 15-3-39

Hopkins Academy (8-5)

Beck 0-0-0, Verdi 0-0-0, Ciaglo 4-2-13, Earle 4-0-10, Walden 3-0-9, Berg 0-0-0, Tudryn 2-0-6, Phifer 5-3-13, Zina 0-0-0, Pipczynski 0-0-0, Feltovic 0-0-0, Michalak 0-0-0, Antes 1-1-3. Totals 19-6-54

3-Pointers—Smith Academy 6 (Guimond 2, Moynihan 2, Smiarowski, Ferrara), Hopkins Academy 10 (Ciaglo 3, Earle 2, Walden 3, Tudryn 2)

Frontier Regional 74,
Pioneer Regional 34

Pioneer Regional (4-7)

Fox 1-3-5, Emond 2-1-5, Hubbard 3-0-8, Allen 1-1-3, Seaman 1-1-3, Curtis 1-0-2, Glazier 2-2-6, Young 1-0-2. Totals 12-8-34

Frontier Regional (9-3)

Machon 0-1-1, Gochinksi 4-2-13, Hoffman 0-2-2, Dragicevich 1-0-2, Spearance 3-2-8, Robinson 3-0-8, Richter 5-0-12, Boudreau 4-1-9, Brynda 2-0-4, Carey 6-3-16. Totals 28-11-74

3-Pointers—Pioneer Regional 2 (Hubbard 2), Frontier Regional 7 (Gochinski 3, Robinson 2, Richter 2)

St. Mary 65, Gateway Regional 63

St. Mary (2-10, 2-3 Tri-County South)

Pepe 4-0-8, Lamirande 8-7-25, Nelson 1-0-2, Montenero 6-2-14, Collins 3-0-8, Ramos 3-0-8. Totals 25-9-65

Gateway Regional (2-11, 1-4 Tri-County South)

Santiago-Lopez 5-5-16, Cortis 7-12-26, Shedd 6-4-16, Balboni 1-0-2, Wozniak 0-0-0, Coffey 0-0-0, Federici 1-0-3. Totals 20-21-63

3-Pointers—St. Mary’s 6 (Lamirande 2, Collins 2, Ramos 2), Gateway Regional 2 (Santiago-Lopez, Federici)

Belchertown 59, Athol 57 (OT)

Belchertown (4-5)

Schiffer 4-4-14, Klingensmith 1-1-3, Raines 4-0-10, Lanoue 8-8-25, Zawistowski 1-0-3, Endelos 1-0-2, Corish 1-0-2. Totals 20-13-59.

Athol (3-9)

Pottinger 6-0-14, King 4-1-10, Ferrari 5-1-12, Gordon 5-0-10, Paine 3-1-8, Tarbell 0-1-1, O’Lari 1-0-2. Totals: 24-4-57

3-Pointers—Belchertown 6 (Schiffer 2, Raines 2, Lanoue, Zawistowski), Athol 5 (Pottinger 2, King, Ferrari, Paine)

Putnam 60, Amherst 41

Putnam (9-3, 2-0 Valley League)

Triplett 6-5-18, Feliciano 3-1-8, Harmon 4-0-8, Green Jr. 4-7-18, English 2-0-4, Barbosa 2-0-4. Totals 21-13-60

Amherst (4-6, 1-1 Valley League)

Pope 0-0-0, Robles 2-0-5, Sadiq 5-2-13, Camora 0-0-0, Nguyen 0-0-0, Yorn 1-0-3, Stewart 4-0-9, Bowman 2-4-8, Castro-McCauley 1-1-4, Camphor 0-0-0, Klaes 0-0-0, Katz 0-0-0, Nagy 1-0-2. Totals 16-7-41

3-Pointers—Putnam 5 (Triplett, Feliciano, Green Jr. 3), Amherst 5 (Robles 2, Sadiq, Yorn, Stewart, Castro-McCauley)

Girls basketball

Gateway 37, Smith Vocational 24

Smith Vocational (4-7, 2-3 Tri-County South)

Sherman 2-2-6, Schabacker 0-0-0, Pazo 0-0-0, McDonald 0-0-0, Pensivy 1-0-2, Boisvert 0-0-0, Graves 0-1-1, Oliveira-Torres 2-0-4, Kelly 1-0-2, Cone 1-1-3, Roberts 2-2-6, Stone 0-0-0. Totals 10-6-24

Gateway (6-5, 4-1 Tri-County South)

Bucko 4-0-11, Viel 5-2-12, Duggan 1-0-2, Bonenfant 0-0-0, Maynard 0-0-0, Rucki 0-0-0, LeBarron 0-0-0, Fish 0-0-0, Paiva 1-1-3, VanBuren 4-1-9, Mueller 0-0-0. Totals 15-4-37

3-Pointers—Gateway 3 (Bucko 3)

 Hampshire Regional 58,
Belchertown 38

Hampshire Regional (8-4, 4-0 Suburban)

Labrie 2-0-6, Legowski 1-0-2, Taylor 3-0-6, J. Salomao 1-0-2, B. Salomao 2-0-5, Babyak 0-0-0, Rubeck 1-0-2, Pond 8-2-22, Golasinski 1-0-2, Marek 5-1-11, Garcia 0-0-0. Totals 24-3-58

Belchertown (3-8, 0-3)

Klingensmith 2-0-4, Camerota 6-2-17, Troy 0-0-0, Vogel 4-0-9, Lucas 0-0-0, Wenc 0-0-0, Medina 3-2-8, Cooper 0-0-0. Totals 15-4-38

3-Pointers—Hampshire Regional 7 (Labrie 2, B. Salomao, Pond 4), Belchertown 4 (Camerota 3, Vogel)

 Northampton 47, Minnechaug 42

Northampton (7-3)

Sledzieski 2-1-5, McGrath 3-5-13, Mieczkowski 3-1-7, Allen 3-2-10, Denhart 0-2-2, Tanner 1-4-6, Dubuque 1-2-4, Roberti 0-0-0. Totals 13-17-47

Minnechaug (9-1)

Strange 1-0-2, Howard 0-3-3, Sandorn 1-1-3, Barry 10-0-20, Cronin 3-0-6, Ofcarcik 1-0-2, O’Toole 2-0-6. Totals 18-4-42

3-Pointers—Northampton 3 (McGrath 2, Allen), Minnechaug 2 (O’Toole 2)

South Hadley 46, Granby 43

South Hadley (4-9, 2-1 Suburban)

Walas 0-0-0, Marion 3-5-11, Carey 1-1-3, Marjanski 4-4-12, Uribe 1-3-5, Jackson 1-2-5, Sears 2-0-4, Levrault 1-0-2, Bessone 1-2-4. Totals 14-17-46

Granby (5-6, 1-2 Suburban)

Croteau 8-2-22, Laliberte 0-0-0, Trembley 2-1-5, McCreary 2-0-4, Galasha 0-0-0, Gauvin 0-0-0, Young 3-6-12, Walz 0-0-0. Totals 15-9-43

3-Pointers—South Hadley 1 (Jackson), Granby 4 (Croteau 4)

Frontier Regional 47, Ware 44

Frontier Regional (6-3)

Warren 2-0-5, Self 0-1-1, Mackin 2-3-7, Sobieski 5-1-11, Laford 1-0-2, Bridwell 1-0-2, Diemand 5-9-19. Totals 16-14-47

Ware (7-5)

Vadnais 7-3-18, Welsh 5-5-19, Orszulak 1-3-5, LaValley 0-2-2. Totals: 13-13-44

3-Pointers—Frontier 1 (Warren), Ware 5 (Vadnais, Welsh 4)