GREENFIELD — The summer is a perfect time to work on your game and local teams are doing just that in the DRIVE Basketball League at Greenfield High School.
On Tuesday, the Green Wave boys varsity team opened the night with a game against Athol. The Bears held in it for a half but Greenfield was able to pull away down the stretch to earn an 80-55 victory at Nichols Gymnasium.
For junior Jacob Blanchard, the success the Green Wave have had so far this summer should help them build confidence heading into next season.
“So far we’re 4-0 so I’m looking forward to our regular season,” Blanchard said. “We’re trying to mesh well together. We have good chemistry because we’ve been playing Suburban together since we were in fifth grade.”
The chemistry Greenfield has on the court has been growing for a long time, and the Green Wave are using this summer to gauge how they’ll look against teams they’ll be seeing during the varsity season.
“The core group has three more years of each other,” Blanchard said. “We get to play most of the teams we play during the season here which is cool."
Jon Breor led Greenfield with 27 points in the win. Oliver Postera tallied 17 points, Caleb Murray scored 16 points and Blanchard had nine points in the win.
Conall Tontodonato dropped 20 points for the Bears. Ben Kearney scored 10 points, Angel Castillo finished with nine points and Logan Cormier added eight points in the loss.
While the Bears were unable to come up with the win Tuesday, Tontodonato — a rising senior — feels his team has gotten better this summer.
“Summer league has been great so far,” Tontodonato said. “We get to see how we play with each other and develop that chemistry.”
Tontodonato said Athol is working on building camaraderie, and using the summer to develop together on the court.
“We’re working on chemistry and moving the ball,” Tontodonato said. “We want everyone scoring. We want to be a team this year, not just a couple guys on the court. Last year paved the way for us of how the tournament feels and how we want to get back to that level. We want to keep bringing Athol basketball to a higher level every year.”
The second game of the night saw Mahar and Smith Academy battle for a half before the Senators’ size took over in the second half to lead the boys from Orange to a 54-42 triumph.
Like Blanchard, Mahar’s Owen Carl said he feels good about where his team is at, and hopes to continue building on that success for next year.
“We’re just trying to come out and get ready for the upcoming season,” Carl said. “We know we’re going to be a good team, that’s our plan, so we’re seeing our competition and seeing how we’re doing against them.”
Connor Sluder finished with 12 points in the win, with Will Barnes adding 10 points and Gavin Sullivan tossing in nine points for Mahar.
The Senators were a young team last year, but after only losing one senior, will be a team to watch once the winter rolls around.
“We’ve had the same group of kids for years now,” Carl said. “JV, middle school, we’ve been together forever. It’s fun and we’re finally on the big stage, playing well and winning games.”
For Smith Academy, the summer has been a learning experience for the younger players. Tuesday’s game was filled with players who didn’t have much varsity experience in the past, so getting time on the court together to develop chemistry has been critical.
“Everyone but myself and one other guy are JV players coming up,” senior Riley Intrator said. “It’s nice to get some of the young guys who have never played varsity some varsity experience. It gets them up to speed and what playing against varsity competition is like.”
As an experienced player, Intrator has been key in helping the young players develop. He hopes the summer league is helping get the younger guys acclimated to what a varsity game feels like so it won’t come as a shock in December.
“I’m personally working on being more of a leader because we have a lot of young guys on our team next year,” Intrator said. “I’m coaching them up and helping them adapt to a faster, quicker, better game. That’s my goal.”