MIAA basketball: Granby girls sidestep Keefe Tech; PVCICS boys bow out to Argosy Collegiate Charter

GRANBY — The No. 8 Granby girls basketball team handled No. 25 Keefe Technical, winning 53-32 in the Round of 32 of the MIAA Division 5 tournament on Friday night.

Defensively, the Rams set the tone early, starting the game in a full-court press that gave the Broncos trouble. Outside of a 3-pointer late in the quarter, Granby’s defense was flawless, allowing just three points through the first eight minutes of play.

On the other end, the Rams found success getting inside, making five shots and getting to the line for eight free throws. With the hot start on both ends, Granby ended the first quarter with a comfortable 13-3 lead.

“You can’t let them think they can win,” Rams head coach Dave Padavano said. “It was 13-3… We almost shut them out that [first] quarter. I think we set the tone sufficiently enough.”

Brenna Moreno spent most of her time back deep in the press, anchoring down the defense and proving to be a great last line of defense. Whether it was stealing errant passes, or rejecting shots at the rim, the junior helped her team to quickly get back on offense.

On that side, Moreno used her scoring skills to impact the game from all three levels, taking turnovers coast-to-coast while knocking down jumpers from all over the court as well. At the end of the night, the junior tallied 18 points.

Kalli White had a productive night for the Rams as well, making her money by drawing fouls on the inside. The junior took 13 attempts from the charity stripe, finishing the night with 12 points.

“You can’t take what [Moreno] and [White do] for us, for granted,” Padavano said. “They’re our point [scorers], and they’re juniors.”

The big games from two of Granby’s leaders were huge on Friday, with Keefe Tech finding some offensive success in the even-numbered quarters. It began with eight points in the second frame, followed by 16 in the fourth to make things interesting.

Despite surrendering some points, the Rams kept up their offensive output to maintain the lead. The deficit never dipped below 20 points after the second half began, paving the way to a comfortable victory.

With the win, Granby moves on to the Round of 16, set to take on the winner between No. 9 Hoosac Valley/No. 24 Snowden International, which will be played on Saturday night.

“Whatever these girls do, they earn,” Padavano said. “No one expected us to win Western Mass. Class D. We ended up being the number one seed, and we took the plaque home… This is a good group of girls. They deserve every bit of what they’ve got.”

Division 4

No. 10 Sutton 49, No. 23 Easthampton 31 — The Eagles put up a fight, but fell in the Round of 32 on the road.

Easthampton closed out its season with an 11-10 record.

Boys basketball

GRANBY — The No. 43 PVCICS boys basketball team suffered a 55-40 defeat to No. 22 Argosy Collegiate Charter in the preliminary round of the MIAA Division 5 tournament on Friday night.

The Dragons struggled to find consistent offense in the loss, facing off against a tough, aggressive 2-3 zone from the Gators. Turnovers plagued PVCICS, with the constant pressure making it hard to maintain possession.

“[Argosy was] a little quicker than we thought,” Dragons head coach John Gingras said. “They did a great job jumping the passing lanes. We were a little slow to react to that. That’s a well-coached team. They did a good job. We just didn’t quite adjust quick enough.”

Outside shooting struggles also made it hard for the Dragons to come back after facing a deficit out of the gate. Grafton Tolopko was the main player for PVCICS to find any type of groove from long range, hitting three 3-pointers in an 11-point effort.

Eric Coward proved to be a problem for the Dragons to defend, putting up a game-high 20 points for Argosy in its victory.

PVCICS went on a run midway through the fourth quarter, shrinking the deficit to just six points with three minutes left. The team’s late-game push fell short, with the Gators controlling possession late while knocking down some huge shots down the stretch to hold on for the win.

“This group has been great all year, and that comes from our two seniors who’ve been in the program for four years,” Gingras said. “RJ Allen and Nate Tuttle have set a very high standard that I hope we can keep up with next year, just with effort, being resilient, never giving up. This group has been a joy to coach.”

No. 4 David Prouty 54, No. 36 Hopkins 50 — The Golden Hawks fought back from a slow start to nearly upend the hosts on the road in the Round of 32.

Chace Earle earned 20 points while Harry West had 15 in the losing effort for Hopkins, which trailed 11-5 after the first quarter.

Division 4

No. 17 South Hadley 61, No. 16 Madison Park — The Tigers squeaked past the hosts in their Round of 32 win.

South Hadley advances to the Round of 16 for a game against either No. 1 Wareham/No. 32 Tech Boston Academy next week.

Division 2

No. 15 Milton 42, No. 18 Amherst 39 — A four-point fourth quarter doomed the Hurricanes in their season-ending defeat in the Round of 32.

Amherst led 25-22 at halftime and 35-27 at the end of the third quarter, but were outscored 15-4 in the final frame to suffer the loss.

Sam Woodruff scored the majority of the Hurricanes’ points with 18.

Late Thursday Results

Division 4

No. 30 Carver 66, No. 35 Easthampton 59 — Three Eagles reached double figures in their preliminary round loss.

Jayden Brown (13 points), Rae Mathurin (10 points) and Chase Canon-Smith (10 points) contributed the most for Easthampton in the season-ending defeat.