After Greenfield captured the Hampshire League South title a year ago in a close race to the finish, the Pioneer boys basketball team came back with a vengeance this winter. 

The Panthers and their senior core of Brayden Thayer, Kurt Redeker and Alex McClelland have looked unstoppable at times this year, leading to a 15-0 record. 

Competing for a league title against the likes of the Green Wave, Mahar, Frontier, Drury, Lenox and Hopkins, whichever team won the league was going to have to earn it. 

The Panthers locked up the title on Tuesday, going on the road and defeating Drury, 53-36, to improve to 10-0 in league action. With each team playing 12 league games and every team besides Pioneer holding three or more losses in league action, the victory assured the Hampshire League South outright title was heading to Northfield. 

“We talked the other night that if someone told us before the season we’d have the record we have right now and won the league, we all would have signed up for that in a heartbeat,” Pioneer coach Scott Thayer said. “It wasn’t something that was in our thought process at the beginning of the season. Beating Mahar, Drury, Greenfield and Frontier on the road says a lot. Winning at home is one thing but to go to their gyms and into environments that aren’t conducive to success is a testament to our guys. I’m proud of what we’ve done.” 

The three-headed attack of Thayer, Redeker and McClelland has been a problem opponents haven’t solved this year. Thayer — who reached 1,000 points as a junior — is averaging 20.2 points per game. Redeker — who sits at 882 career points — is putting up 19 PPG while McClelland is tossing in 15.5 PPG. 

Jackson Glazier, Ben Werner, Will Glazier and Judah Glenn are the role players who have all stepped up this season, giving the Panthers other options when opponents focus on the top three scorers. 

More than just the talent, it’s how all the pieces fit together, as it’s a group that has been playing together since they were in elementary school. That chemistry shows on the court. 

“My first year back coaching at Pioneer might have been the most talented team I’ve coached,” Scott Thayer said. “Every guy 1-15 could play. They just never wanted to fit together and that’s the beauty of sports. It’s about trying to get those pieces to fit and understand their roles. This group is selfless to a fault. It’s a good problem to have. They care about each others’ success and in this day in age, that’s hard to get.” 

After a run to the MIAA Div. 5 Final Four last year, there was no questioning the talent the Panthers had coming back. 

When Scott Thayer saw his team compete in the Grumoli Preseason Tournament in Holyoke against Div. 1 and Div. 2 schools and make it to the championship game, he knew this season had a chance to be special. 

“I was pleasantly surprised,” Scott Thayer said. “I didn’t think we’d be there but it’s grown over the years. They’re the sum of their parts and they fit. Everybody is playing at an MVP level in their role. When you have that, it allows everyone to do what they do best.”  

It all starts with the defense for Pioneer. While they can put points up in a hurry, the Panthers pride themselves on the defensive end of the floor and are giving up just 41.2 PPG on the season. 

“Anyone who knows me knows we build our teams from that side of the ball out,” Scott Thayer said. “If you can defend and keep the score low, hopefully you can score enough to win. If we play this way and get up on you, it’s going to be a difficult style to come back on. They’ve bought into it and understand how we need to play.” 

Though the league title is sealed, the Panthers have a big game on Monday when it travels to Springfield to take on fellow unbeaten Duggan. Duggan knocked Pioneer out of the Western Mass. Class D tournament a year ago and Monday’s contest could be a potential Class D title game preview. 

Franklin Tech wrestling captures Suburban League North title 

After sharing the title with Athol last year, the Franklin Tech wrestling team made sure the Suburban League North title was all theirs this winter. 

The Eagles put together a dominant regular season, going an unblemished 5-0 against the Bears, Mahar, Frontier, South Hadley and Granby to take the title outright. 

“I’m excited for the kids,” Franklin Tech coach Mike Aiken said. “When this senior class came in and started wrestling the program was at the lowest it’s been. We were coming off a COVID season that was just four matches and we barely had 10 kids on the team. The year before all that we were second in Western Mass. so they’ve been building toward this for a while. It’s been a lot of fun to watch. They’ve been getting better and better and gaining confidence as we go.” 

The Eagles captured the title in dramatic fashion. On the road against South Hadley, it came down to the final match at 285 pounds, where Franklin Tech’s Dillon Laffond earned a double overtime victory that allowed Tech to squeak out with a 36-34 victory to seal the outright league title. 

“It was one of the most entertaining meets I’ve ever been at,” Aiken said. “It was fun. The crowd was loud and it came down to the heavyweight match. Dillon had lost to that kid three times so he was the underdog in that situation. To be able to pull it off in double overtime, there was no more exciting way to win a league title than that.” 

The work to win a league title started in the summer, when Aiken said a group of wrestlers were consistently practicing and working on their craft. The results have shown on the mat. 

“It’s been a process to get here,” Aiken said. “It speaks to the amount of work these kids have put in. We had a group of about seven kids that wrestled all the time this summer. To see them have success this season is super rewarding as a coach. It’s a credit to the work they’ve put in and hopefully the other kids see how much they improved by doing that and want to do the same thing this summer.” 

Franklin Tech is 13-1 overall in dual meets, which earned it the No. 2 seed at the Div. 3 state dual meet in Ashland on Saturday. 

Despite dealing with injuries throughout the year, Aiken credited the depth of his team and having athletes ready to step up when their name was called to achieve the record the Eagles have. 

“We have younger kids who are inconsistent but have stepped up on different occasions,” Aiken said. “Wrestling is such an individual sport so we need certain younger kids to step up and fill spots. Mia Marigliano is going to end up being All League and she wasn’t even a starter at the beginning of the season but she’s gone out, killed it and pinned everyone in the league. Without people like her stepping up and filling roles we finish third instead of first. 

“Winning the league is a testament to that,” Aiken added. “We have a little bit of depth which helps and the kids are working hard to get better each day. What I thought my starting lineup would be at the beginning of the year isn’t completely what it is now. It’s never what you expect. Having the kids we need to show up week in and week out coupled with kids who stepped up when we needed them to has given us success.” 

With the league title achieved, the Eagles now focus their attention to state duals this weekend and the Western Mass. Div. 3 championship the following weekend. 

Aiken said Franklin Tech is likely to have a number of top seeds at Western Mass., including wrestlers like Carsten Couture, Max Brunette, Landon Purington, Travis Eastman, Collin Eddy and Laffond. 

“We could have six or seven kids with top two seeds,” Aiken said. “We’re in a good spot. We’re starting to get healthy and that’s good for us. It looks like it’ll be a four-team race for Western Mass. and it’s been a few years since I’ve been able to say something like that.

“I’m proud of them,” Aiken added. “The kids work hard. I project my own standards on them and since I’m hard on myself, I’m hard on them. It’s been fun to watch their journey. I can’t wait to see what we do at Western Mass. and this weekend.” 

Turners boys swim shares league title

One other local team has already locked up a share of a league title. The Turners Falls boys swim team went 4-0-1 in the Constitution Division, the lone tie coming against Holyoke. The Purple Knights also went 4-0-1 in league play, leading to the two sharing the league title. 

Liam Bliss — who will be competing at Western Mass. this weekend — was the catalyst for the Thunder. He’ll be competing in the 50-yard freestyle and the 100 breaststroke, as well as the 400 free relay alongside William Tyler, Malcolm Tyler and Tyler Galenski. 

Athol boys, Frontier girls still in title race

The Athol boys basketball team has won six in a row in the Hampshire League North, giving it an 8-2 record in the league. Lee, after starting 7-0 in the league, fell to Hampshire and Athol but still is tied with the Bears for first place as the Wildcats also have an 8-2 record in HL North action. 

The Bears’ final two league contests are against Mount Greylock on Friday at Mallet Gymnasium and at Smith Academy on Tuesday. Lee closes with the Mounties on Saturday before hosting Franklin Tech on Tuesday. 

The Frontier girls basketball team is 9-1 in Franklin County League North contests, its lone loss coming to Lenox, the Millionaires sitting at 9-0 in the league. 

The Redhawks travel to Lenox next Monday in a contest that will likely decide whether Frontier earns a share of the league title or if the Millionaires take it outright. 

Frontier then closes with Easthampton on Tuesday while Lenox faces Palmer on Saturday and after playing the Redhawks, finish its regular season against Easthampton on Wednesday.