MIAA basketball: Frontier girls take down Tahanto in D4 Round of 16

SOUTH DEERFIELD — The Frontier Regional girls basketball team continued its rampage through the Division 4 state tournament bracket with an 81-40 win over Tahanto Regional in the Round of 16 on Wednesday night.

The top-seeded Redhawks advance to play No. 9 Tyngsborough at home on Friday at 6 p.m. in the Round of 8. Effective ball movement and stifling defense fueled the blowout win over the No. 17 Stags at Goodnow Gymnasium.

Addie Harrington led the Redhawks with 23 points. The sheer speed of play seemed to stun the visiting Stags. Frontier held a 29-9 lead after the first quarter. It’s the second blowout win of the tournament for the Redhawks, who have a formula for their play moving forward in the tournament.

“Definitely pace and playing together,” Harrington said. “Mixing those two. I think we just have to try our best and again, play with pace. But under control with the teams moving forward.”

Skyler Steele and Harper Modestow played aggressively from the opening tip, attacking the Tahanto defense relentlessly. Both Steele (19 points) and Modestow (14 points) reached double figures for the Redhawks.

Whitney Campbell added seven points for Frontier. The Redhawks led by as many as 50 points.

“Tonight, they really moved the ball well,” Frontier coach David Hastings said. “Everybody touched the ball. Mostly everybody got a basket tonight. It wasn’t just the five starters…I just loved the way we played offensively and defensively.”

Ninth-seeded Tyngsborough took down Hampshire Regional, 52-33, in the other Round of 16 game. The Tigers enter the game against Frontier with a 15-7 record.

“I started watching some games,” Hastings said. “I told my assistant coaches that I thought they’d beat Hampshire. I am not surprised by it. They are a solid program. They will come in and play really hard from what I’ve seen on film.”

A 1,000-point scorer entered the gym in Avery Gendron. In Tahanto’s preliminary win over Saint Mary’s, Gendron drained eight 3-pointers. Gendron finished with 17 points with nine coming in the fourth quarter when Frontier had pulled its starters.

“I thought we did an incredible job defensively,” Hastings said. “Really proud of my girls and the defensive effort they are giving. Offensively, things are coming together.”

Frontier pulled its starters in the fourth quarter. Twin sisters Sadie and Maggie Nichols led the bench mob in the final frame. With every basket scored by the reserves, the starters got more and more rowdy with their celebrations.

“It’s really exciting to get to play with all the other players,” Maggie Nichols said. “Just being on the court is really fun. Especially when we play well as a team.”

Sadie Nichols scored her first varsity basket for the program, eliciting the loudest cheer of the game from the Frontier bench and the crowd.

“It was really exciting to be a part of the win,” Sadie Nichols said. “Having the opportunity to go in and play for such a great team.”

Sadie Nichols finished with four points, while Maggie Nichols added two points. Evva Campbell also scored two points for Frontier.

“We are capable of going really far and winning,” Maggie Nichols said. “All of it, honestly. If we keep playing the way we are.”