SOUTH DEERFIELD — Upset-minded West Bridgewater came to Goodnow Gymnasium with a purpose.
The Wildcats jumped out to a 52-40 lead over Frontier in the MIAA Div. 4 Round of 32 after three quarters, but saved their best for the final eight minutes.
No. 20 West Bridgewater outscored the No. 13 Redhawks 27-11 in the fourth to knock off Frontier with a 79-51 victory on Friday.
“Credit to West Bridgewater, that’s a good team,” Frontier coach Ben Barshefsky said. “They never let us feel comfortable all night. From the onset, we struggled getting into our sets and executing from there. They made more plays than we did tonight.”
It was a full team effort for the Wildcats (15-6) in the fourth quarter. Nathan Hancock opened the quarter with a 3 and Ryan McGrath knocked down a pair of free throws to put West Bridgewater up 57-40.
Both teams continued to trade baskets but the Wildcats went on a 14-0 run late in the fourth behind a baskets from Tommy Perna and Thomas Stapleton, 3’s from Hancock and Perna and two free throws each by Nathan Razza and Nathan Anderson to take a 77-49 lead before both teams emptied the benches in the final minutes.
“When we were down, we started pressing a little bit too much,” Barshefsky said. “We made some mistakes that we wouldn’t normally make. Credit West Bridgewater for that.”
West Bridgewater came out of the gates firing on the offensive end. It built an early 7-2 lead behind five points from Perna and a midrange jumper by Ryan Hulme.
The Wildcats eventually went up 17-7 in the first after back-to-back shots by Hulme and a 3 and a two by Razza but Erich Brown, Joe Thomson and Iain Spearance each had a bucket to close out the frame for Frontier (15-6), cutting the West Bridgewater lead to 20-13 after eight minutes.
A pair of runs in the second quarter helped the Wildcats extend their lead at the half. Thomson opened the quarter with four points for the Redhawks but West Bridgewater came back with a 6-0 run off baskets by Tommy Sheedy, Hulme and Zachary Bellody.
Patrick Boyden got inside for two, Tyler Dubreuil knocked down a 3 and Danny Fellows scored in transition for Frontier to make it 29-24 Wildcats late in the quarter but West Bridgewater went on a 7-0 run to eventually take a 36-26 lead into the intermission.
The two teams swapped baskets throughout the third quarter, with the Wildcats having an answer for every Redhawk basket.
Thomson and Dylan Martin each had five points in the frame while Dubreuil and Erich Brown also put it in the basket for Frontier but Chase Ryan had six points and Razza and Perna both scored five points for West Bridgewater to stay ahead by double figures, 52-40, going into the fourth.
While the Wildcats size played a role in the win, it was their execution that was the deciding factor.
“We’ve played big teams before,” Barshefsky said. “It wasn’t their size as much but them as a collective unit keeping us off balance.”
While it wasn’t the ending the Redhawks had hoped for, being able to host a state tournament game shows how well the season went as a whole for Frontier.
“The outcome from this game shouldn’t take away from all this group accomplished this year,” Barshefsky said. “I’m proud of them. I’m proud of our seniors who have given so much to this program. We’ll miss them.”