Belchertown boys basketball again beats Renaissance
The Renaissance School has been unbeatable against everyone other than Belchertown this year.
The Phoenix once again couldn’t topple the Orioles, who swept the season series with a 63-61 victory Thursday night at Sci-Tech in Springfield.
Zach Parsons was dominant with a career-high 28 points to go with 18 rebounds. Tyler Verville (nine assists) and Eric Adzmina each added 11 points, while Chris Ladd had 10 for the Orioles (11-3).
Renaissance had four offensive rebounds in the final 20 seconds, but couldn’t get the equalizer to fall.
Belchertown beat the Phoenix 61-38 at home on Dec. 20.
Longmeadow 62, Amherst Regional 60 — The Hurricanes’ comeback fell less than one second short as Tchuijo Nkamebo’s shot at the buzzer went in, but was waved off by the officials in Amherst.
Amherst (6-6, 2-1 Suburban) trailed 53-43 through three quarters, but came roaring back in the fourth behind a strong defensive effort. The Hurricanes evened the score at 60-60 when Norris Cuevas-Nova knocked down a pair of free throws with less than 30 seconds left.
The Lancers (7-8, 1-2) answered when John Basille’s jumper fell with nine seconds remaining for a 62-60 lead.
Amherst had two turnovers in the final nine seconds, but a Longmeadow missed 1-and-1 and a Hurricanes steal gave coach Jim Matuszko’s squad the ball back with two seconds left.
After a timeout, Amherst got the ball to Cuevas-Nova on the baseline, who quickly dished underneath to Nkamebo, who scored what would have been the equalizer had it come less than a second prior.
Cuevas-Nova finished with a game-high 19 points, while Nkamebo had 15. Tyler Peake added 10 points in the loss.
Granby 66, Ware 64 — Playing with a reduced roster, the Rams held on after two big free throws from Corey Baker with 11 seconds left in regulation.
Baker carried his team, amassing 28 points, a new career high. He also tallied seven rebounds, two assists and two steals.
After his free throws, the Indians countered with a pair, but the Rams were able to inbound the ball and run out the remainder of the clock.
The Rams were without injured starter Aaron Gaj and hurt bench players Matt Menard and Brandon Cloutier. Gaj and Cloutier are both listed as day-to-day.
Tyler Ellard stepped up with 13 rebounds to complement his 11 points. Jesse Molin also chipped in with 10 points.
With the win, Granby qualified for the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament.
Smith Academy 63, Greenfield 37 — Mat Sulda paced the Falcons with 27 points as they used a first-half bombardment to sink the Green Wave. The game was decided by halftime after Greenfield found itself in a 37-6 deficit.
With another standout performance, Sulda needs 45 points for 1,000 in his career. He also had six assists for the Falcons.
Keith Natale snagged eight rebounds and blocked four shots to go along with his 14 points. Derek McMahon was a key distributor, dishing out eight assists.
With the win, Smith Academy (10-2 Hampshire West) improved to 11-3 overall, while Greenfield (8-4 Hampshire East) dropped to 9-5.
Frontier Regional 53, Hopkins Academy 33 — The Golden Hawks trailed 33-20 after three quarters but the Red Hawks (11-2, 10-2 Hampshire West) pulled away with a strong fourth.
Nate Perret had 12 points and Danny Kieras added 11 for Frontier, which shot 19-for-37 from the line.
Drew Bemben had 12 points and 11 rebounds for Hopkins, which played its best game of the season. Satchel Teixeira had six points and seven rebounds, while Adam Daniere (10 rebounds) and Jacob Kosakowski (nine boards) also had strong rebounding efforts.
Holyoke Catholic 58, Palmer 54 — The Gaels (3-9) were held to four points in the third quarter but held on for the big win over the Panthers (9-4).
Nate Powers had 24 points, 21 rebounds and six blocked shots to pace Catholic.
Jeff LaPrade added 14 points, while Joe Kass had 11 rebounds, including nine offensive. John McCoy chipped in with 11 points.
South Hadley 58, Ludlow 35 — Luis Agrait scored a game-high 19 points as the Tigers (5-6, 1-0 Central) won their division opener on the road.
TJ Fitzell added nine points, while Anthony Bullough had seven for South Hadley.









