SOUTH HADLEY — In a battle of Division 4 powers, the Frontier Regional girls basketball team held off South Hadley, 67-62, on Tuesday night in an independent match up.
The Redhawks (12-2) had to make multiple clutch plays in the final minutes to secure the win over the Tigers. Frontier’s largest lead was 13 points in the third quarter. Whenever the lead increased, South Hadley made a run to quickly get back into the game.
“It was outstanding to get a game with some adversity,” Frontier coach David Hastings said. “The girls did a phenomenal job of keeping their composure. This is what they need to get further along.”
Addie Harrington scored 28 points for Frontier. Harrington made play after play in the fourth quarter to keep the lead for Frontier. She had 11 points in the final frame and went 4-for-4 from the free throw line. Harrington made two free throws with 12 seconds left to close the scoring.
“We knew it was going to be a battle coming into this,” Harrington said. “They’re a physical team and we had to match their physicality.”
On South Hadley’s final possession, Harrington went to the floor to force a jump ball. The arrow favored the Redhawks. Skyler Steele added 18 points with four 3-pointers for the Redhawks. Whitney Campbell had eight points with two 3-pointers.
“Everyone can hit a shot when we need it,” Harrington said.
With 38 seconds left the Redhawks had a 61-58 lead. South Hadley intentionally fouled Jazzy Hayes. The gym was mostly silent, and the pressure was on for Hayes. Some free throw specific drills during practice hardened Hayes for pressure moments.
“My coach, he told me, ‘Best free throw shooter out there on our team’,” Hayes said. “At the end of practice, we always go down the line and shoot free throws. How many we miss, we gotta run. But we can do a double or nothing. My team always looks to me to do a double or nothing. It felt like that for me. Just step up and knock them down.”
The Tigers got a monster game from Cara Dean. Olivia Athas was also in double-figures with 16 points. Kate Phillips added 10 points for South Hadley.
“Sometimes we didn’t take care of the ball the way we are capable of,” South Hadley coach Paul Dubuc said. “A couple of errant passes here and there. A turnover there and there. They’re a good team but we could see them in Western Mass., we could see them in the states. We’ll be ready.
The Tigers went into the matchup ranked No. 4 in the most recent MIAA Division 4 power rankings. Frontier is ranked second in Division 4. After the lead went to 13 points for Frontier, South Hadley got to within three points after and basket and foul from Grace Sherman.
Steele had an answer for the Redhawks, calmly hitting a jumper in the paint to send Frontier into the fourth quarter with a 49-44 lead. A strong take by Phillips cut the Frontier lead to 57-54 in the fourth quarter. Harrington responded with a basket with a foul after a disorganized possession for the Redhawks.
Dean then scored in the paint to make the score 61-58 with 57 seconds left. A timely basket by Macy DeMaio in transition helped put away the Tigers.