H.S. Roundup: Nate Desbien scores in OT, Amherst hockey prevails against Taconic

AMHERST — Nate Desbien netted the overtime game-winner in the Amherst Regional hockey team’s 5-4 win over Taconic at Orr Rink on Tuesday night.

Desbien scooped up a loose puck in the slot following a misplay from a Thunder defenseman and fired a shot high, glove-side that tickled the twine 53 seconds into OT as the Hurricanes escaped with a victory on its home ice in a back-and-forth battle.

“They play a very structured setting,” Amherst head coach Mike Rousseau said of Taconic. “They hit their wide man, I try to stop it, I can’t, they come down and they put pressure on us. But that’s what I expect out of these two teams: play hard. And not so much last game, but like the [Western Mass.] semifinal last year, last shot won. Both teams competed well.”

Sawyer Ferro secured a hat trick for the ‘Canes, while freshman Brody Palmisano potted his first career varsity goal in the winning effort as well to highlight Amherst’s offense.

“He’s got some offensive talent,” Rousseau said on Ferro. “Obviously he showed that tonight. We’ve been working on where to shoot, we watched this kid’s tape and that helped out.

“That goal should be a snapshot of how you play high school hockey,” Rousseau added regarding Palmisano’s marker. “Not stopping the movement of your feet, forechecking, backchecking. He picks the puck up on the wall, skates, gets pinned, keeps his feet moving, goes in shoots the puck on the ice and they score. Good for him on his first high school goal.”

Desbien didn’t factor into any of Amherst’s previous four goals in this one, but the sophomore winger made the most of his opportunity when the ‘Canes needed him the most. The overtime goal, which Rousseau categorized as a tenacious play, pushed Desbien’s season goal-total to four.

“He beats the kid, presses him, gets the puck, he shoots underneath the crossbar and we score and we win a hockey game,” Rousseau said on Desbien. “It all worked out in the end.”

Amherst sophomore goalie Sasha Savinov picked up his first win in between the pipes in place of senior Jason Kim.

“He made the saves he was supposed to,” Rousseau said. “I just told him, ‘the goals that were given up were not your fault.'”

The Hurricanes (3-2-1) return to action Friday against Minnechaug in a game that’ll be played at the MassMutual Center in Springfield.

Puck drop is set for 4 p.m.

Girls basketball

Smith Academy 42, Pioneer 41 — The Falcons grabbed their first win of the season in dramatic fashion, holding off the Panthers with less than 10 seconds to go with a one-point lead.

Smith Academy now sits at 1-3 overall.

Holyoke 50, Agawam 46 — Three players shined for the Purple Knights in their tight victory over the Brownies.

Julianna Pirela (16 points), Sujelyz Peralta (11 points) and Jaelyn Colon (10 points) all reached or surpassed double figures in the home win as the hosts improved to 1-2.

Frontier 57, Palmer 18 — Addie Harrington had 22 points for Redhawks, who rolled to the huge win.

Frontier, which has now won four straight, bumps up to 4-1 overall.

Minnechaug 59, South Hadley 51 — The Tigers haven’t found the win column again after their season-opening ‘W’ at the Pioneer Valley Tip-Off Classic as their losing streak stretches to three following Tuesday’s loss.

Taylor Bullough was South Hadley’s top scorer with 14 points against the Falcons, followed by 13 points each from Cara Dean and Kate Phillips.

Both teams combined for 15 3-pointers in the 32-minute affair, with Minnechaug holding the edge with nine made shots from beyond the arc.

The Tigers are now 1-3.

Boys basketball

Longmeadow 63, Northampton 44 — A 24-point first quarter from the Lancers put the Blue Devils behind the eight ball and they never recovered in their second consecutive loss.

Eli Reid had 18 points to pace Northampton, followed by 10 points from Mason Tait. The Blue Devils fell to 2-3 overall.

Easthampton 73, Hopkins 47 — Rae Mathurin’s career night helped the Eagles cruise past the Golden Hawks in a Hampshire North-South league crossover game.

Mathurin scored 21 points to lead all players, while Jay Brown (15 points) and Patrick Larson (14 points) rounded out Easthampton’s offense.

Hopkins was led by Chace Earle’s 12 points, with Derek Gromacki’s 11 points counting as the only other Hawk to earn double-digit points.

The Eagles’ fourth win in a row moves their record to 5-2. Hopkins fell to 2-3.

Frontier 87, Commerce 70 — The Redhawks won their fourth straight game after the win over the Raiders at Goodnow Gymnasium in an independent match up.

Frontier (5-1) had five players reach double-figures. Max Millette led the way with 22 points. Rowan Modestow added 18 points. Alex Ellis scored 12 points, with Garrett Dredge chipping in with 10 points.