Boys basketball: Pioneer holds off KIPP Academy, surges into MIAA Division 5 quarterfinals (PHOTOS)

By GEORGE MILLER

For the Recorder

Published: 03-07-2023 9:08 PM

NORTHFIELD — Tuesday night's last four minutes barely sufficed to contain the high tournament drama squeezed into that narrow space.

Pioneer built a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter, lost it to KIPP Academy, grabbed it back and needed two free throws by Brayden Thayer with 13 seconds left to go back in front by four. Vic Mafo answered with a 3-pointer by KIPP with two seconds to play, then Mafo stole Pioneer's long inbounds pass and threw up a halfcourt shot that had the distance, but not the accuracy, slamming off the right side of the backboard as Pioneer escaped with a 60-59 MIAA Division 5 Round of 16 victory at Messer Gymnasium.

The Panthers (20-3), the No. 4 seed in Division 5, advanced to host a state quarterfinal against No. 5 seed and defending state champion Maynard (14-7). That game is tentatively set for Friday at 6 p.m. in Northfield.

"You're not going to back into it, you've gotta go out and earn it," said Pioneer coach Scott Thayer. "My kids really stepped up to the challenge. They've shown their true mettle and I'm very proud of them.

Brayden Thayer led four Pioneer players in double figures with 17 points. Alex McClelland, who scored nine critical points in the fourth quarter alone, and Josh Wood each had 13, while Kurt Redeker filled up the stat sheet with 10 points, 15 rebounds and seven assists.

KIPP Academy, the No. 13 seed from Lynn, bowed out at 13-10 with key performances from Mafo (game-high 20 points), Trosky Pena (14), Osaru Evbenaye (11) and Juan Setalsingh (nine). The visiting Panthers rained down five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter alone and nine in all out of their 21 total field goals.

Pioneer carried a 43-37 lead into the fourth quarter and bumped it to nine points right away after a free throw by Redeker and a driving layup by McClelland, making it 46-37 with just over six minutes remaining. KIPP then scored the next six, thanks to a trey by Mafo and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Setalsingh, but McClelland’s right-wing 3-pointer with 5:27 left pushed the score to 49-43.

“Brayden, Josh and Kurt are known entities. We kept telling Al he was going to have opportunities. Just step up, have some confidence. and we’ll be fine. And he was,” said Thayer of McClelland. “He had some games like that last year as a freshman, but not really this year. Those were big.”

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At that juncture, KIPP ran off the next seven points to take its first lead of the second half, 50-49, on a 10-foot left baseline jumper by Evbenaye coming with 2:51 to go. An exchange of threes – first Brayden Thayer for Pioneer, then Tolulope Abosede for KIPP – kept the visiting Panthers up 53-52, before Pioneer ran off six straight of its own, thanks to Redeker’s post-up score and back-to-back hoops by McClelland, the last coming with only 35 seconds on the clock.

Evbenaye hit a trey for KIPP, which called an immediate timeout at the 23-second mark trailing 58-56. Pioneer was able to get the ball across halfcourt and called its own timeout with 13 seconds to go. Before the ensuing inbound pass could be thrown, KIPP’s Trosky Pena was called for holding Thayer, who knocked down both ends of a one-and-one – sandwiched around a KIPP timeout – to put the hosts up 60-56, but not quite out of danger.

Mafo drained a 3-pointer from the left corner with one second left to make it 60-59 as KIPP called timeout and the officials put an extra second back on the clock. Pioneer called its last timeout before inbounding, leading to the final sequence with Mafo’s steal and near-miss from halfcourt.

“KIPP never gave in. They battled the whole way. That’s what you expect in the tournament,” said Thayer. “We’ve already been a little bit battle-tested and we can react in this environment in a positive way.”

KIPP reversed an early 9-5 deficit with late threes by Mafo and Pena to lead 11-9 at the end of one quarter, but Pioneer scored the first eight of the second to go ahead 17-11, helped by Thayer’s ridiculous 28-foot 3-pointer and a trey by Wood back-to-back. Wood hit another 3-pointer and McClelland scored on a putback of a missed trey to give the host Panthers their largest lead of the first half, 24-15, with just under two minutes before halftime. KIPP then rallied with seven straight points to get within two, before Redeker’s foul shot at the 13-second mark provided for a 25-22 Pioneer lead at the break.

With 4:30 left in the third, Pena lifted the visiting Panthers into a 29-29 tie on a 3-pointer, but Pioneer answered with an 11-4 run. Gavin Gammell came off the hosts’ bench with five clutch points late, including a 3-pointer with one second to go, as Pioneer went ahead 43-37 entering the last eight minutes.

Pioneer and Maynard have some postseason history. The two met in the 2018 Division 4 state semifinals with the Tigers winning decisively, 70-38, and Maynard captured the inaugural Division 5 state title last March.

“Maynard has a pretty rich history. They’ll come in here prepared and ready to go. They’re defending state champs, they don’t have the same team, but it’s another tall task for us,” said Thayer. “We’ve got to have some fun with this. I’m trying to get them relaxed and keep a good mental outlook. When they do that, they can perform with the best.”

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