SOUTH DEERFIELD – Monday night’s matchup between the undefeated Hopkins boys basketball team and a Frontier side plagued by injury and illness seemed destined for another Golden Hawks victory. Hopkins had already bested Frontier once earlier in the season, rolling to a 65-40 victory.

But on the Redhawks’ Senior Night, the home team used their height and heart to hand Hopkins its first loss of the season in a 70-63 victory that halted the visitors’ winning streak at 12 games. Frontier was led by senior Danny Fellows (17 points) along with Nico Fasulo (18 points), who sank several clutch triples for the Redhawks, but the win was a testament to all four of the team’s seniors.

“They work so hard and they really brought a great culture and energy and chemistry to our team… Unfortunately we had two of our seniors get injured that were really a big part of our team, and the other guys stepped up and they were saying to me before the game they were playing for them. That's pretty special,” Frontier head coach Josh Morse said. “(Hopkins) is top notch, extremely well-coached. They're going to be a great tournament team.”

The Redhawks (7-8) knew that they had a tall task heading into Monday night’s game. Though Frontier had a clear height advantage, Hopkins entered with the perfect record, and the club has been making waves in the Hampshire League South all season.

“I think the biggest thing was not being intimidated by their record, just treating them like human beings,” Fasulo said on facing off against Hopkins. “We went out there and played our hardest, didn't think about anything but getting that win and playing hard and having fun.” 

It was certainly a fun night for Frontier and its fans, which packed Goodnow Gymnasium to cheer on the team and its seniors. It hasn’t been like that all season for the Redhawks, which have struggled with injuries and sickness. Considering the team is already very young, those difficulties hit the group harder than usual.

The potential for the Redhawks’ future success was on display on Monday against Hopkins. Sophomore Owen Babb and junior Aleks Carey got better in the paint as the night went on, and the players who came off the bench for the Redhawks kept Frontier in the game until they were able to take the lead late in the third quarter.

“We’ve been fighting adversity a lot this year with having such a young squad, but I feel like now we're finally starting to piece it together,” Fellows said. “I think this team, after I graduate, is going to have a really bright future going forward.”

Introducing the ‘Honey Badgers’

Meanwhile, Hopkins will have to pick itself up after suffering just the first loss of the season. The Golden Hawks knew, despite their win against the Redhawks earlier this season, that Monday’s rematch would be difficult because of the home team’s sheer size. Hopkins has less height in general and relies on its fast break and quick passes to get around bigger opponents. 

Their size has become somewhat of a rallying cry for the club this season, with head coach Jim Hart telling his team to embody the spirit of another undersized fighter – the humble honey badger. 

“We always say we're taking the character of a honey badger,” Hart said. “I would show them a film of the honey badger against six lions and he fought the six lions until the lions went away. We'll take a punch, we'll take a hit, but we have to fight back...We may be small but we're going to be ferocious and we're gonna give you our best effort.” 

Though it doesn’t seem likely that Hopkins will change its mascot from the Golden Hawks to the Honey Badgers (despite a few of the players campaigning for it), expect Hopkins to come back just as fiery as ever. Prior to Monday night’s loss, the team had put together a dozen straight wins, relying on a combination of veteran leadership from players like Patrick and James Fitzgibbons and Cody West along with youthful enthusiasm from players including Teddy Cyr and Alex West. 

Nobody from Hopkins was happy with Monday’s lost, but the team is glad that the defeat came now and not in the postseason. It gives the Golden Hawks a chance to learn from their mistakes and move forward, continuing to embody that honey badger energy. 

“You don’t want to say it’s good for us. But... it's good for us,” Hart said.

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