Falcons clamp down on Red Hawks
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HATFIELD - The Smith Academy and Frontier Regional girls basketball teams have dominated Franklin County League play this season because of their strong defenses.
On Friday night, it was the Falcons who won the battle of the immovable objects and earned a 41-28 victory.
"We always have done pretty well on the defensive end," Smith senior guard Steph Slysz said. "But we definitely picked it up (Friday). We communicated well and that's key for us."
With the win, the defending league champion Falcons (13-2, 13-1 Franklin South) avenged a 34-32 loss in South Deerfield on Dec. 21 and pulled into a virtual tie atop the league standings with Frontier (13-2, 12-1).
"When we played at Frontier, I didn't feel like we came out and played in the first three quarters," Smith coach Ted Wilcox said. "We played in the fourth quarter up there and made it a game. Tonight, what we had in the fourth quarter there, the intensity level was much better."
Frontier, which had won seven straight games, struggled Friday on the offensive end and scored a season-low 28 points. It had just one field goal in each of the first two quarters and finished the game with seven.
"We didn't get looks because we weren't moving," Red Hawks coach Ralph Loos said. "You have a team that is still figuring out how to win. You go into a hostile environment that's like a tournament game and certain things happen that are out of your control in the first half that gets a little bit in their heads."
Loos was called for a technical foul midway through the second quarter with his team trailing 14-5.
"It's disappointing to me that things happen that took the game away from what I think the game should have been about," he added.
Slysz was the only player in double figures with a season-high 11 points to go with five rebounds, four steals and four assists.
Alyssa Klepacki added eight points and seven rebounds for the Falcons.
Slysz attributed her team's higher level of intensity to both the stakes of the matchup and the strong crowd presence, with a large, boisterous group of Smith students well-prepared for the advertised "Whiteout Night."
"I don't think we've had the intensity (before) that we had (Friday) because the atmosphere hasn't been there," she said. "We usually have about a quarter of the fans that we had tonight. It was great to get such support from the community."
Mel Stier and Lauren Halla led Frontier with seven points each, and Melanie English added five points, six rebounds and three steals.
The Falcons led 19-9 at halftime and kept the Red Hawks at a distance throughout the third quarter before a pair of foul shots by Halla and a three-point play by Stier cut the deficit to 29-21 going into the fourth quarter.
English then got to the line early in the fourth quarter and made both free throws to make it a six-point game.
But Smith answered when Allison Slysz make a jumper from the free-throw line against the ensuing Frontier press.
Then Lindsay Gondek scored on a drive down the right baseline with 6 minutes, 55 seconds remaining to push the lead back to 10 and Steph Slysz added a free throw.
Kristin Calvo scored on a free throw and a fast-break layup to get Frontier back within eight, but Alyssa Klepacki and Abeni Davies scored the next five points for Smith to put the game away.
"The bottom line is Smith played well, they outrebounded us and some things happened that were out of our control. That's the way things work sometimes," Loos said. "The kids have to learn, we aren't going to win every game. It doesn't always come easy. No one is going to hand us anything. We've earned everything we've got.
"We don't get a lot of respect from anybody," he added. "Until you prove it, that's the way it is. We'll be fine. I still don't think too many people want to play us in the tournament."
Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.
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