GREENFIELD — It was a competitive game at halftime between the Greenfield and South Hadley boys basketball teams on Wednesday at Nichols Gymnasium. 

The Tigers’ outside shooting allowed them to take control in the third. 

Leading 38-32 at intermission, South Hadley opened the third on a 14-4 run behind a trio of 3-pointers from Jackson Driver and a trey from Tim Loughrey that gave the Tigers a 52-36 edge midway through the third. 

Greenfield made a late run to cut the lead to single digits late in the fourth but it wasn’t enough as South Hadley walked away with a 68-57 independent victory. 

“We had a good burst there from Jackson Driver in the third,” Tiger coach Chris Gerber said. “He had a cool moment there in the third that gave us separation. Greenfield is a good team. [Grayson Thomas] is really good.”

With the playoffs just weeks away and both the Tigers (13-3) and the Green Wave (8-8) competing in the Class B tournament and the MIAA Div. 4 postseason tournament, it was a good test for both teams to see where they are heading into the final stretch. 

“That’s a good South Hadley team,” Greenfield coach Angelo Thomas said. “They play hard and play as a team. Everything you get, you earn. If you don’t do something right offensively or defensively it shows. Those are the type of games you like to play in and coach in. If you’re a competitor you want to play in these games.”

South Hadley pulled ahead early on Wednesday, ending the first quarter on a 9-4 run to take a 22-13 lead after eight minutes. 

The Green Wave went on a 7-0 run to open the second quarter off a pair of baskets from Grayson Thomas and an and-one from Erik Martineau, but a pair of 3-pointers from Noah Hambley followed by seven points late in the quarter from Jack Loughrey gave South Hadley its 38-32 lead at the half. 

After its run to open the third the Tigers were able to take a 57-43 lead into the final eight minutes. A pair of early baskets from Jack Loughrey helped South Hadley stay in control, and after the Wave cut the lead down to 63-54 with 1:21 to play after a Caleb Thomas jumper and back-to-back buckets from Grayson Thomas, the Tigers made their free throws to seal the win. 

With tough opponents on the horizon to close out the regular season, it was the kind of win Gerber wanted to see. 

“We end now with Greenfield who is a really good team and a playoff team with some seniors,” Gerber said. “Then we go to Granby and they’re playing really well. We finish with Hoosac who’s a tournament team and is always good. It’s a nice stretch for us to get ready for the postseason.” 

Jack Loughrey finished with 24 points, Hambley and Driver each scored 14 points while Tim Loughrey added 11 points in the win. 

Grayson Thomas led Greenfield with 28 points, Jon Breor scored 11 points, Caleb Murray recorded 10 points and Caleb Thomas added five points for the Wave. Angelo Thomas said he’s hoping to see his team lock in on the defensive end late in games. 

“We just have to get stops at crucial times,” Angelo Thomas said.

Pioneer 77, Renaissance 46 — A 14-0 run to open the game helped the Panthers keep their unbeaten season alive with a victory at Messer Gymnasium Wednesday. 

Brayden Thayer and Alex McClelland each recorded 21 points, Kurt Redeker scored 18 points, Jackson Glazier tossed in seven points while Will Glazier added four points in the winning effort for Pioneer (15-0).

Girls basketball

Mohawk Trail 34, Smith Vocational 33 — Trailing by six points with three minutes to play, the Warriors came back to tie it and closed the game by scoring the final seven points to earn an independent victory Wednesday. 

Bella Pettengill scored 13 points, Natalie Lanoue and Zephyr Jetzon each finished with six points while Valerie Bzomowski added five points in the victory. 

Hockey

Greenfield 3, Westfield 2 – A battle for first place in the Berry Division Wednesday night saw the visiting Green Wave go into Amelia Park Ice Arena in Westfield and capture a huge victory.

Greenfield built a 3-0 lead after one period and held on for a 3-2 victory to complete a regular season sweep of the Bombers.

The Wave improved to 10-5-1 overall, and moved into sole possession of first place in the Berry Division (6-3-1) after leapfrogging Westfield (9-3-3, 5-3-2).

Jake Jurek started the scoring for the Green Wave, tallying in the opening period before Loki Rhodes made it 2-0 with just under four minutes to go in the opening stanza.

Luca Siano really put Westfield up against it, taking a feed from Matt Garvin and making it 3-0 with under a minute to play in the first frame.

Westfield clawed back with two goals in the second period, cutting the deficit to 3-2 entering the final stanza.

Wrestling

Mahar 47, Frontier 33 — Abduli Gilmore, Orion Whitehouse (126), Elias Roberts (138), Josh Mazza (144) and Eujeyn Smith (165) had the wins for the Senators, who knocked off the Redhawks Wednesday. 

Zachary Brown (132), Massimo DiBari (150), Jonathan Olvera (175), Kaden James (215) and Max Hunter (285) won for Frontier. 

Preps

Skiing

Northfield Mount Hermon’s Elianna Umana Kimura was the winner of the girls race during the Mt. Institute Ski League race on Wednesday at Berkshire East with a combined run time of 84.88 seconds. 

Wylie Benedetti came in third (87.03), Ellie Pinkham placed fourth (87.44) and Katalin Mazansky earned fifth (91.36) for the Hoggers. Deerfield Academy’s Rowan Skinner came in second (85.57). 

NMH had the top five finishers in the boys race, with Ryan Choi taking first (80.23), Cody Vassar placing second (80.34), Oliver Newman coming in third (82.05), Sumner Finley taking fourth (82.15) and Cavan Finnerty placing fifth (82.68).

Late Tuesday results

Boys basketball

Mahar 52, Lenox 23 — The Senator defense didn’t allow the Millionaires to hit 10 points in any of the four quarters, leading to a Hampshire League South victory in Orange Tuesday. 

Jayden Delgado scored nine points to go along with seven rebounds, Derek Collins scored 10 points, Malaki Grummell tallied nine points and six rebounds, Marshall Ames scored seven points while Hunter Brooks and Morgan Softic each added five points in the win. 

Frontier 65, Hopkins 45 — The Redhawks pulled ahead 28-16 at the half to defeat the Golden Hawks in a Hampshire League South contest in Hadley Tuesday. 

Max Millette tossed in 13 points, Alex Ellis scored 11 points, Rowan Modestow recorded 10 points and Garrett Dredge added nine points in the winning effort. 

Swimming

The Turners Falls swim team competed at the PVIAC Fast Chance Swim Meet over the weekend, with three girls relay teams and one boys relay team putting together times that qualified them for the Central/Western Mass. Division II Championship this Sunday. 

The Thunder’s 200-yard medley relay team of Sylvie DiBartolomeo, Lillian Walker-Hanning, Tristan Bliss and Avery Heathwaite qualified with a time of 2 minutes, 10.34 seconds, their 200 freestyle relay team of Heathwaite, Bliss, Rosie Fortin and Alice Fortin qualified with a time of 1:55.94 while its 400 freestyle relay team of Alice Fortin, Bliss, Heathwaite and DiBartolomeo qualified with a time of 4:17.78. 

On the boys side, Turners’ 400 relay team of William Tyler, Malcolm Tyler, Tyler Galenski and Liam Bliss qualified for Western Mass. with a time of 4:06.56. 

Also at Fast Chance, Alice Fortin set a personal best in the 100 freestyle with a time of 1:03.31 and in the 50 free with a time of 27.35 seconds.