Trailing 17-13 at the end of the first quarter to Mahar, the Athol boys basketball team stepped up on the defensive end of the court to take command of the game.
The Bears held the Senators to just five points in the second quarter, with the Athol offense putting up 17 points to take a 30-22 lead into the half. The Bears extended its lead to 44-34 at the end of the third quarter before holding on in the fourth, with the Bears coming away with a 61-46 victory at Mallet Gymnasium Wednesday.
“Such and great win for our kids and program,” Athol coach Brian Patria said. “Defense and heart won this game. We stressed minimizing their shots in the paint and rebounding. We talked about simplicity wins and keeping things simple and focusing on the fundamentals. There was excitement in our locker room after winning this rivalry game against Mahar. I have a lot of respect for [Mahar coach Chad Softic].”
Angel Castillo led the way with 15 points in the win, with Ben Kearney adding in 14 points. Logan Cormier tallied six points while Colby Goodwin and Ray Castine each had four points for the Bears.
Will Barnes had a team-high 14 points for the Senators, with Lucas Isrow adding eight points, Hunter Martin and Morgan Softic each tallying five points while Gavin Sullivan had four points in the loss.
Greenfield 66, Turners 40 — Caleb Murray led the way with 19 points to lift the Green Wave past rival Turners in Turners Wednesday.
Jon Breor and Noah Murray each tallied 10 points in the winning effort. Alex Quezada finished with 11 points for Turners, with Levin Prondecki scoring seven points and Dylan Shinall adding six points in the loss.
HockeyGreenfield 3, McCann Tech 0 — After both teams felt each other out in the first period, the Green Wave attack came to life in the second period.
Greenfield outshot the Hornets 16-0 in the second period, with Sammy Knight scoring off an assist from Jayson Smith to give the Green Wave the lead going into the third. Greenfield tacked two goals on in the third to come away with a 3-0 win in North Adams.
Loki Rhodes scored off an assist from Brady Poreda to make it a 2-0 game before Knight closed out the scoring off assists from Matt Garvin and Brody Gagne.
Josh Bordeaux made 11 saves in the win including one on a breakaway with just over four minutes to play to keep the shutout in tact.
WrestlingMahar 51, Duggan 22 — Shawn Jensen picked up his first career varsity win at 195 pounds, lifting the Senators to a road win on Wednesday.
Jensen took a 7-4 decision for Mahar, which also received pins from Luke Chiodo (160) and Xander Roberts (170).
Pathfinder 48, Frontier 36 — Ian Paciorek (132), Miles Keefe (160) and Julian Adams (220) won by pin for the Redhawks in a loss to the Pioneers on Wednesday.
Grayden Gifford, Wyatt Finch, Jocelyn Antes, Ben Baker and Miles Ferreira also wrestled for Frontier in the defeat.
Boys swimmingHolyoke 42, Turners 39 — Individual wins from Liam Bliss and Tyler Galenski guided the Thunder in a tight loss to the Purple Knights on Wednesday in Turners Falls.
Galenski captured the 200-yard freestyle with a time of 2 minutes, 55.14 seconds, while Bliss was the winner in the 200 individual medley, touching the wall in 2:41.29.
Turners’ other victory came in the 200 freestyle relay, where Bliss, Nik Martin, Matt Sibley and Cody McDonough teamed for top honors. Runner-up finishes were achieved by McDonough (200 freestyle and 100 breaststroke), Martin (50 free and 100 butterfly), Sibley (100 free), Bliss (100 backstroke) and Galenski (500 free).+
Girls swimmingHolyoke 65, Turners 27 — A pair of victories from Sophia McComb propelled Turners on Wednesday, as the freshman captured wins in the 100 breaststroke (1:27.65) and the 100 freestyle (1:07.81).
Avery Heathwaite (200 free) posted a second-place showing for the Thunder.
Tuesday late resultsGirls basketball
Athol 48, Putnam 38 — Emma Bacigalupo had it going in the first half for the Bears.
The senior scored 19 of her team-high 21 points in the opening 16 minutes of action, getting Athol out to a 30-20 lead en route to a Franklin County League South win over visiting Putnam.
Jenna Bonenfant tallied 15 points, Brooklyn Hopkins scored six points and Olivia Horrigan added four points in the victory.
The Athol JV team also beat Putnam, 64-18.
Frontier 43, Pioneer 31 — The Redhawks built a 24-15 halftime lead and extended its advantage to 37-25 after three quarters to earn a win over the Panthers at Goodnow Gymnasium Tuesday.
Kylie Laford led the way with 18 points in the win. Delaney Fifield scored eight points, Claire Kirkendall tallied six points and 14 rebounds while Hailey Hutkoski and Molly Gates each had four points for Frontier.
Hailey Ring had a team-high 11 points for Pioneer, with Laura Kahler adding seven points, Fota N’Diaye and Kyler McClelland each scoring five points and Sophia Walker finishing with three points in the loss.
Greenfield 43, Ware 37 — Leading 28-27 going into the fourth quarter, the Green Wave outscored Ware 15-10 in the final eight minutes, with Amber Bergeron scoring 11 of her team-high 17 points in the final frame to lift Greenfield to a victory at Nichols Gymnasium Tuesday.
Lillia Kachelmeyer finished with seven points, Anna Bucala and Tayler Bergeron each had six points while Josie Cloutier knocked down a 3 in the win.
Franklin Tech 45, Smith Academy 30 — The Eagles played dominant defense throughout, holding the Falcons to eight first-half points and just seven points in the third quarter to run away with a win in Hatfield Tuesday.
Kendra Campbell finished with 16 points in the win, with Lea Chapman scoring 10 points and pull ing down 17 rebounds. Hannah Gilbert and Kait Trudeau each added five points while Kyra Goodell came up with six steals for Franklin Tech.
Wrestling
Mohawk Trail 36, Gateway 24 — Landon Purington (113) secured a first-round pin while Oliver Schwenger-Sartz (152) earned a third-round pin in the Warriors’ win over Gateway Tuesday.
Connor Herzig and Truman Long also wrestled for Mohawk Trail.