HADLEY — The Granby girls basketball team wrapped up the regular season with an impressive 54-24 victory over Hopkins on Monday night.
After a competitive first quarter, the Rams flipped a switch and caught fire before halftime. Combining aggressive defense and capitalization on the other end, the team went on a 22-2 run prior to the intermission.
“We go into every game trying to be the team that makes the least amount of mistakes, and we did a good job of doing that [Monday],” Granby head coach Dave Padavano said. “We pulled it out when we didn’t have it. We didn’t force passes. All signs of a basketball team that’s growing and learning. I was pleased with that.”
Defensively, the Rams pressed for the majority of the game, converging into an aggressive man-to-man in the half-court. Granby was intent on baiting the passing lanes throughout the game, consistently creating turnovers and making the Golden Hawks uncomfortable.
Hopkins struggled with turnovers throughout all 32 minutes of Monday night’s contest, coughing the ball up more than it would’ve liked. With that fact leading to so many fewer shots offensively, the comeback attempt never gained enough steam.
“Things start mushrooming sometimes when you start turning the ball over,” Golden Hawks head coach Dick Coach said. “I noticed that this year… [Monday], we had a ton of turnovers out there, way too many. I think if we could keep those down, we’re pretty solid.”
Kallie White led all scorers with 27 points for the Rams in the win, finishing with exactly half of her team’s points. The junior continuously turned defense into offense by taking steals coast-to-coast.
In the half-court, White made her money down low, using her combination of strength and touch around the rim. She tallied 10 made field goals on the night in Granby’s victory.
“[White’s] so consistent in having big games that we’ve got to make sure that we don’t take them for granted,” Padavano said.
The Rams will be relying on White to continue having performances like Monday’s down the stretch, with the team waiting to see who they draw to begin the postseason. The win over Hopkins gives them a 15-3 record through the regular season.
Morgan Augustin slotted 13 points (five twos, one 3-pointer) as Hopkins’ top scorer.
After a tough loss, the Golden Hawks will look to bounce back and get back to their winning ways in the postseason. Hopkins finished the regular season with a 8-10 record overall.
“I’ve got a good bunch of girls,” Coach said. “They’re great. In another year or two, we’re going to be really good. So I’m happy with what we did. We went from three wins last year to eight now. We’ve beaten some good teams, too.”
Smith Academy 59, Pathfinder 38 — The Falcons finished up their regular season with a ‘W’, snapping their three-game losing streak in the process.
Vivian Higuera was Smith Academy’s sharpshooter, concluding with 18 points on eight made field goals and one free throw.
The Falcons also received 11 points from Anna Scagel and 10 points from Sophia Jagodzinski.
Minnechaug 67, Belchertown 23 — The Orioles were held to single digits in each frame in their third straight loss.
The Falcons were up 35-16 at halftime.
Southwick 64, Holyoke 33 — Juliana Pirela potted 20 points, but the Purple Knights fell to the Rams in non-league play.
Holyoke has one game remaining in the regular season.
South Hadley 62, Wahconah 50 — Make it four wins in a row for the Tigers, who enter the postseason on a roll.
Cara Dean collected a game-high 23 points for South Hadley, followed close behind by Kate Phillips (18 points) and Olivia Athas (12 points).
Frontier 43, Drury 26 — Harper Modestow led the way with 13 points, five rebounds and four assists in Frontier’s win over the Blue Devils at Goodnow Gymnasium.
Frontier (16-2, 10-0) closed play in the Suburban League without a loss. Addie Harrington registered a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds with five assists. Skyler Steele scored six points with five rebounds, five assists and five steals. Whitney Campbell also reached double-figures with 12 points.
Baystate Academy 48, Smith Voc 41 — Eleven points from Savannah Fredette weren’t enough for the Vikings.
Smith Voc will get another crack at the Bulls on Tuesday at home.
Boys basketball
Frontier 66, Smith Academy 28 — Balanced scoring carried the Redhawks (17-1) in the road win over the Falcons in Hatfield. Carter Miller led Frontier with 14 points. Dean Gray and Rowan Modestow both added 10 points.
Frontier finished its Hampshire North season with a perfect record (12-0).
Hampshire 75, Granby 65 — The Raiders edged the Rams in a non-league matchup.
Braylon Jarrett (27 points) and Vynce Carr (20 points) energized the Hampshire offense, scoring more than half of its points.
Granby’s Zavien Fernandez led all players with 28 points in the loss.
Hopkins 60, Athol 34 — The Golden Hawks closed out the regular season with an emphatic win against the Bears.
Derek Gromacki sank 21 points to pace Hopkins, while Harry West also had a double-digit night, finishing with 13 points.
Weekend Results
Boys basketball
Amherst 70, West Springfield 52 — The Hurricanes closed out their regular-season slate in style in the win against the Bulldogs.
Mitchell Carey went off for 32 points, including eight 3-pointers, while Sam Woodruff (18 points) and Gael Buford (14 points) also reached double figures for Amherst.
Holyoke 69, Northampton 61 — The Purple Knights scored 26 points in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback against the Blue Devils on Friday.
Northampton led 53-43 after the third quarter, but scored just eight points in the final frame to take the loss.
Holyoke’s Jordan King led all players with 24 points. Brayden Nichols-Stephens paced the Blue Devils with 19 points.
Hockey
Easthampton 4, Montachusett Tech 1 — Three points from Grayson Prevey-Catrambone (two goals, assist) catapulted the Eagles to the victory at the Wallace Civic Center.
Wyatt Hunter (goal, assist) and Brayden Fennessy (two assists) recorded multi-point games for Easthampton too.
Wrestling
South Hadley 65, Frontier 13 — The Tigers took care of business against the Redhawks, winning eight of the 11 matches.
Dylan Lavelle (106) won by technical fall while the rest of South Hadley’s match victories came via pins.
Zack Willette (113), Javier Rosado (120), Patrick Lavelle (126), Ryan Lachance (132), Eli Yakovlev (165), Jasiel Ramos (175) and Joseph Quatcker (215) earned wins by fall for the Tigers.
