The race for the Franklin County South championship is coming down to the final two weeks of the season.

The Smith Academy and Frontier Regional girls basketball teams each won Friday night as both used strong defensive performances to stay tied atop the league standings.

Smith Academy trailed Mohawk Trail at halftime but changed to a zone defense for the second half. The move worked as the Falcons went on to win 54-42 and improve to 14-1 in the league.

Frontier led 17-11 at halftime and held Easthampton scoreless in the third quarter to pull away for a 35-20 victory in Easthampton. Frontier is also 14-1 in the league.

Each team has three league games remaining.

Smith Academy 54, Mohawk Trail 42 - The Falcons changed defenses in the second half and held the Warriors to 14 points as they won in Hatfield.

Smith (15-2, 14-1 Franklin South) trailed 28-23 at halftime but switched from man-to-man to a 1-3-1 defense.

Abeni Davies had 14 points and eight rebounds for the Falcons, and Lindsay Gondek added 12 points and nine rebounds.

Steph Slysz had 11 points and seven rebounds while her sister Allison contributed nine points for Smith.

Harley Petko-Sands hit four first-half 3-pointers for Mohawk, but scored only two points in the second half and finished with 14.

The Falcons were 20-for-27 from the free throw line compared to 0-for-7 by the Warriors.

Frontier Regional 35, Easthampton 20 - The Red Hawks (15-2, 14-1 Franklin South) held the Eagles (7-10, 7-8) scoreless in the third quarter as they pulled away for the win in Easthampton.

Mel Stier had 12 points to pace Frontier.

Alicia Carter scored nine points for Easthampton.

Amherst Regional 57, Chicopee Comp 26 - The Hurricanes (16-0, 6-0 Suburban) outrebounded the Colts (8-7, 4-2) 42-24 en route to the win in Chicopee.

Jenna Klaes had 17 points on five 3-pointers while Alyssa Leonard added 11 points for Amherst.

Amherst, which had 12 steals, continues its path toward an undefeated season when it plays at winless Westfield (0-13, 0-5) at 7 p.m. Wednesday.

"We haven't talked about it," Amherst coach Christal Murphy said. "We take one game at a time and our goal since the beginning of the season is at every practice and every game to get better."

Holyoke Catholic 54, Putnam 49- Kaitlin Veit scored half of her game-high 24 points in the third quarter as the Gaels (8-8, 5-0 Bi-County West) erased a three-point halftime deficit and clinched a spot in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament with the win.

The Gaels trailed the visiting Beavers by 10 points midway through the second quarter when Jenn Perry scored all six of her points during a 15-8 Holyoke Catholic run to close within three at the break.

The Gaels can now finish no lower than second in the Bi-County West.

Hopkins Academy 57, Greenfield 29 - Seventh-grader Kate Sullivan scored a game- and career-high 12 points to pace the Golden Hawks (12-4, 11-4 Franklin South) in Hadley.

Olivia Mathieu added 10 points for Hopkins, Lisa Berg had nine points and eight rebounds, and Gabrielle Pelissier contributed eight points and seven rebounds.

The Golden Hawks led 10-2 at the end of the first and 28-11 at halftime.

Point guard Emma Konieczny (ankle) dressed but did not play. The sophomore could return next week.

Belchertown 38, Commerce 22 - Despite a cold shooting night, the Orioles (10-5, 3-2 Bi-County East) clinched a spot in the Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament with the win at home.

Belchertown held the Red Raiders to four field goals.

Katherine Goodale (11 points) had five steals for the Orioles.

Olivia Pare scored six points for Belchertown and Brianna DelValle added five. They each grabbed 10 rebounds for the Orioles.

Ware 61, South Hadley 33 - The playoff hopes for the Tigers (7-10, 1-4 Bi-County Central) dimmed as they lost at home to the Indians (13-4, 3-2).

Madeline Dowd scored nine points for South Hadley, and Jessica Mercier added eight.

Justine King scored 30 points for Ware.

Sabis 61, Granby 32 - The first-place Bulldogs (15-2, 5-0 Bi-County Central) used a strong inside presence to open up a big lead early and the Rams (3-14, 0-6 Bi-County Central) could not recover and lost at home.

Alyssa Boardway battled her way to 12 points and eight rebounds for Granby, and Tori Cebula finished with seven points and six steals.