High schools: No. 7 Amherst Regional storms back to knock off No. 2 Longmeadow

The Amherst Regional girls basketball team stormed back in the second half to stun Longmeadow, 52-48, in the Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament quarterfinals, Friday in Longmeadow.

The seventh-seeded Hurricanes trailed by as much as 20 and were down 34-19 at halftime.

“We pressed the entire second half,” Amherst coach Ralph Loos said. “Once we got it to 10 I didn’t draw a single thing up the entire game. I said, ‘The doubt is in their minds now. You have to finish them.’”

Petua Mukimba and Erin Klaes each had 17 points for Amherst (16-5). Mukimba scored 12 of her 17 points in the second half, including 10 in the fourth quarter when Amherst outscored Longmeadow 20-6.

Klaes had eight of her points in the second half, including a key 3-pointer late. Freshmen Audrey Bowen and Sara Hastie made free throws down the stretch.

“If we were going to go down we were going to go down with everything we got,” Loos said.

The press took the Lancers (13-8) out of their game.

“We didn’t let them run their stuff,” Loos said. “I think we put people in uncomfortable positions.”

Delaney MacPhetres returned from an injury that made her miss the last five games and 3½ weeks. She finished with seven points before fouling out.

“She played some really big minutes for us,” Loos said.

Amherst will play No. 3 Taconic (19-2) in the semifinal round next week.

Hoosac Valley 56, Granby 47 — The No. 6 Rams were poised for an upset of the No. 3 Hurricanes. Granby led 27-22 at halftime, but Hoosac rally in the second half and held off visiting Granby in the Division 3 quarterfinals.

“Up at the half and playing great,” Granby coach Tom Burke said. “We were doing exactly what we wanted to.”

Hoosac rallied and pushed the lead to 10 late. Kaeleigh Croteau hit a pair of 3s to cut the deficit to 50-46 with a minute left, but the Hurricanes held on.

“This is by far the best game we played against them,” Burke said. “Certainly the best game we played all year. It was tough. Five seniors. They played their hearts out.”

Nora Young led Granby with 18 points. The senior finished her career as the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,702 points. She added eight rebounds, four blocks and three assists. Croteau, a senior, finished with 17 points on four 3s and had 13 rebounds and three assists.

Julia Frappier, Julia Gauvin and Kayla McCreary also played their final game for Granby.

Boys basketball

Hopkins Academy 68, Ware 54 — The Golden Hawks build a lead over the first three quarters and cruised into the semifinal round of the Division 4 tournament.

The third-seeded Golden Hawks led 21-11 after the first quarter and 39-20 at halftime. They extended the lead to 52-35 entering the fourth.

Andrew Ciaglo and Colin Earle each had 15 points. Earle had his on five 3-pointers. Braeden Tudryn had 12 points and Ryan Antes 11 in the win.

Hopkins (14-7) will play No. 2 Drury (14-7) in the semifinals at 8 p.m. Wednesday at the Curry Hicks Cage.

Taconic 90, Belchertown 42 — The 2019 state runner-up Braves were too much for the Orioles in Pittsfield.

Third-seeded Taconic led 28-4 after the first quarter and never looked back in the quarterfinals of the Division 2 tournament.

Jordan Lanoue had 16 points for No. 6 Belchertown. Nathan Schiffer had seven points.

Commerce 51, Holyoke 49 — The Purple Knights had an opportunity to tie the Division 1 quarterfinal or take the lead trailing by one with 6.2 seconds left, but Jovaughn Smith-Antuna couldn’t convert from the free-throw line.

Smith-Antuna led No. 5 Holyoke (11-10) with 15 points. Brian Cristobal and William Cruz each added 11 points, while Jael Cabrera had nine.

The Purple Knights led 11-9 after the first quarter.

Commerce’s Joe Garcia hit a 3 at the third-quarter buzzer to put Commerce up 39-36.

No. 4 Commerce will face top-seeded Central in the sectional semifinals at 8 p.m. Monday at Western New England.

Hockey

Pope Francis 6, Catholic Memorial 1 — Amherst’s Ryan Leonard scored a hat trick, as the Cardinals erased a one-goal deficit with a barrage to advance in the Super 8 winners bracket Thursday.

Two of Leonard’s goals came 2:19 apart in the second period.

No. 3 Pope Francis (14-4-2) scored six consecutive goals after falling behind 3:03 in when Catholic Memorial’s Jonny Nichols scored.

Easthampton’s Connor Wodecki found the net in the first five minutes of the third period.

Pope Francis will face second-seeded Boston College High School in the next round at 1:15 p.m. Sunday at Gallo Arena in Bourne. The Eagles defeated them in each of the past two Super 8 championship games.

Girls basketball

Pittsfield 50, Northampton 49

Pittsfield (11-10)

Sime 3-0-9, Sonoreini 5-2-14, R. Duquette 1-0-2, J. Duquette 4-0-8, King 1-0-2, Lummus 5-2-15. Totals 19-4-50

Northampton (14-7)

Sledzieski 2-0-6, Mgrath 5-2-12, Mieczkowski 6-0-14, Allen 0-0-0, Denhart 0-0-0, Tanner 5-2-13, Dubuque 2-0-4. Totals 20-4-49

3-Pointers—Pittsfield 8 (Sime 3, Sonoreini 2, Lummus 3), Northampton 5 (Sledzieski 2, Mieczkowski 2, Tanner)

Amherst Regional 52,
Longmeadow 48

Amherst (16-5)

Mares 0-0-0, Bowen 2-1-5, Klaes 6-1-17, Yath 0-0-0, Siegel 0-0-0, Higham 1-0-2, Kawall 1-0-2, MacPhetres 2-3-7, Mukimba 7-3-17, Hastie 0-2-2. Totals: 19-10-52

Longmeadow (13-8)

Levin 2-0-4, Kofman 3-4-12, Brown 3-4-12, Minardi 3-6-12, Cardaropoli 2-2-6, Trajkovski 0-0-0, Kingston 1-0-2. Totals: 14-16-48

3-Pointers—Amherst 4 (Klaes 4) Longmeadow 4 (Kofman 2, Brown 2)

Hoosac Valley 56, Granby 47

Granby (11-11)

Croteau 6-1-17, Frappier 2-0-4, McCreary 2-0-4, Gauvin 2-0-4, Young 7-4-18, Trembley 0-0-0, Walz 0-0-0. Totals 19-5-47.

Hoosac (15-6)

Canales 0-0-0, Billetz 2-1-5, Garabedian 0-0-0, Levesque 1-2-4, Winn 0-0-0, Robinson 4-5-14, Hugger 0-0-0, McGrath 3-1-8, Field 9-0-25. Totals 19-9-56.

3-Pointers—Granby 4 (Croteau 4). Hoosac 9 (Field 7, Robinson, McGrath).

Boys basketball

Hopkins Academy 68, Ware 54

Ware (12-10)

J. Soltys 6-1-15, Slattery 3-3-9, Auchter 1-0-2, Berthiume 1-0-2, A. Soltys 1-0-2, Smith 8-5-22. Totals: 20-9-54

Hopkins (14-7)

Beck 1-0-2, Verdi 0-0-0, Ciaglo 6-1-15, Earle 5-0-15, Waldon 1-0-3, Berg 0-0-0, Tudryn 5-0-12, Phifer 3-1-8, Zina 0-0-0, Pipczynski 0-0-0, Feltovic 0-2-2, Michalak 0-0-0, Antes 4-3-11. Totals: 25-7-68

3-Pointers—Ware 5 (J. Soltys 4, Smith) Hopkins 11 (Earle 5, Ciaglo 2, Waldon, Tudryn 2, Phifer)

Taconic 90, Belchertown 42

Belchertown (9-12)

Schiffer 2-3-7, Zawistoski 0-0-0, Grissom 1-0-2, Boscher 0-0-0, Moreira 1-2-4, Klingensmith 1-0-2, Sajdak 2-0-5, Raines 1-0-2, Lanoue 6-4-16, Endelos 0-0-0, Bianco 0-2-2, Corish 1-0-2. Totals 15-11-42.

Taconic (17-4)

Sherman 2-0-4, Harrigan 4-2-11, Codey 1-0-2, Boua 6-0-12, Bramer 3-0-7, Montgomery 6-0-12, E. Percy 2-1-5, Lee 0-0-0, I. Percy 8-3-20, Sandifer 0-0-0, Sanogo 7-3-17. Totals 39-9-90.

3-Pointers—Belchertown 1 (Sajdak); Taconic 3 (Harrigan, Bramer, I. Percy).

Commerce 51, Holyoke 49

Holyoke (11-10)

Smith-Antuna 7-1-15, Ibarra 1-1-3, Christobal 4-1-11, Cruz 4-3-11, Cabrera 3-3-9. Totals 17-9-49

Commerce (15-6)

Garcia 3-10-18, Alston-Person 4-2-11, Cruz 4-0-8, Brown 2-2-6, Washington 1-2-4, Jordan 2-0-4. Totals 16-16-51

3-Pointers—Holyoke 2 (Christobal 2), Commerce 3 (Garcia 2, Alston-Person)

Monument Mountain 67,
Frontier Regional 59

Monument Mountain (17-5)

Gidarakus 5-0-14, Boyco 1-0-2, Hanavan 5-2-13, Brown 8-7-27, Robbins 3-1-9, Goffin 1-0-2. Totals 23-10-67

Frontier Regional (17-5)

Machon 0-2-2, Gochinski 1-0-3, Hoffman 4-2-12, Spearance 2-0-4, Robinson 1-2-4, Richter 3-0-7, Carey 3-2-8, Jones Thomson 8-3-19. Totals 22-12-59.

3-Pointers—Monument Mountain 11 (Gidarakus 4, Hanavan, Brown 4, Robbins 2), Frontier Regional 4 (Hoffman 2, Richter, Gochinski)