HATFIELD — The Smith Academy girls basketball team came into Thursday night’s game with Duggan having its eyes set on a fifth consecutive win.

But Arianna DeJesus (15 points), Shanyiah Jones (12 points) and the Jayhawks’ size were too much, as the Falcons fell 52-32 in a Tri-County League North battle at Sherry Webb Gymnasium.

“That’s a tough team. They’ve got three good shooters, and they attack the basket,” Smith Academy head coach David Zononi said. “They’re just a good basketball team.”

The game was closer than the final score indicated. The Falcons trailed 12-8 after the first quarter, and 28-18 at halftime.

But Duggan pulled away in the second half. Smith Academy struggled on the defensive glass, and seemingly every possession the Jayhawks were getting two, three, or sometimes four opportunities at the basket because of their tenacity on the boards.

Zononi felt like the Falcons beat themselves.

“If we just rebound the basketball it’s not a 20-point loss,” Zononi said. “Second-chance points are what killed us. I like the way we’re competing, and we played hard. We just gotta tighten up a few of the little things. That would be a five or 10-point game.”

Even as Duggan’s lead went from 10 to 15, and 15 to 20, Smith Academy never gave in.

Led by Caitlin Graves (7 points) and Emma Tisdell (9 points), the Falcons continued to play with sheer intensity until the final buzzer sounded. Alexa Jagodzinski battled down low and came up with seven points, while Anna Scagel added six before fouling out midway through the fourth quarter.

That never-quit attitude is exactly what Zononi likes to see out of his team, and knows it’ll pay off in the long haul.

“They don’t give up, and we challenged them tonight and told them they had to play with a little bit of nasty,” Zononi said. “I don’t mean that in a rude way, but they had to play with toughness tonight. We told them all week they had to match when Duggan played physically, and they did that.”

Graves played a big part in that. As the point guard, she faced a lot of the Jayhawks’ pressure — and in turn was fouled quite a bit. She did a great job staying composed and continuing to run the offense and get her teammates involved with open looks.

“She’s one of our captains, and she leads by example,” Zononi said. “She has the ability to get down hill and finish, and take on some contact and not worry about it. She brings toughness. She’s got one speed and it’s all out.”

Smith Academy (4-4) started the season 0-3, and responded by rattling off four consecutive victories ahead of Thursday night. The Falcons are in a new league this year, as last season they competed in the Franklin County League South.

It took a few games for Smith Academy to get adjusted to its new home, but since then the Falcons have played at a high level.

“We really turned the corner after starting out 0-3,” Zononi said. “We were getting our feet wet in the new league, but it was a great transition for us. The way they responded to that was great. We’re turning the corner.”

The Falcons return to the hardwood Tuesday, on the road at Smith Vocational. Tip-off is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.

Smith Voc 34, Westfield Tech 18 – Makayla Tatro’s dominant outing propelled the Vikings to victory on Thursda night.

Tatro went for a game-high 19 points, and Smith Voc build a commanding 19-4 halftime lead en route to the victory.

Molly Smith added four points for the Vikings.

Wahconah 48, Amherst 27 – A 17-2 edge in the second quarter helped the Warriors to victory on Thursday.

Wahconah led 26-9 at halftime. Amherst’s Shannon Klaes paced the offense with six points, followed by Zola Higham with five. Francesca Sloan and Niyama Adadevoh tossed in four points each.

Boys swimming

Ludlow 69, Northampton 53 — Jack Mattison-Gulotta won the 200-yard freestyle in a time of 1:48.71 and the 100 butterfly in 53.90 to lead the Blue Devils boys team in a close loss against the Lions just a day after their win over Palmer.

Mattison-Gulotta then teamed up with Reed Mitchell, Gus Fallon, and Cole Mattison-Gulotta to win the 200 medley relay (1:55.51) and the 200 freestyle relay (1:41.75). Mitchell also took first in the 100 breaststroke (1:07.25) to close out first-place finishers for Northampton.

Girls swimming

Ludlow 93, Northampton 59 — Amalia Guerra took first in the 100 butterfly (1:03.72) and the 100 backstroke (1:04.64) while Annika Bergstreiser (1:07.77) earned first place in the 100 freestyle.

Guerra and Bergstreiser were the only two individual winners for the Blue Devils in the loss.

Late Wednesday results

Boys swimming

Northampton 75, Palmer 73 — Jack Mattison-Gulotta won two individual events and keyed a pair of winning relays to help the Blue Devils snag a tight victory on Wednesday evening.

Mattison-Gulotta touched first in the 200-yard IM (2:03.55) and 100 backstroke (57.75 seconds), and swam a leg on Northampton’s winning 400 freestyle relay (along with Cole Mattison-Gulotta, Reed Mitchell and Tyler Palm, 3:50.61) and 200 medley relay (with Mitchell, Gus Fallon and Theodore Bayne, 1:53.30).

Other Northampton winners included Fallon (50 free, 26.85), Palm (diving, 211.55), Mitchell (100 fly, 58.78), and Bayne (100 breaststroke, 1:10.10).

Girls swimming

Northampton 85, Palmer 69 — Amalia Guerra and Annika Bergstreiser each won two individual events for the Devils in a Wednesday victory over the visiting Panthers.

Guerra won the 100 fly (1:01.68) and 50 free (26.09), and Bergstreiser touched first in the 100 free (1:06.19) and 100 breaststroke (1:25.15). Other winners included Ursula Von Goeler (diving, 238.60) and Saumya Kulp (500 free, 6:53.27), while the 200 freestyle relay quartet of Guerra, Von Goeler, Bergstreiser and Caeil Killip-Leonard won in 2:01.71, and the 400 freestyle relay team of Guerra, Bergstreiser, Kulp and Jayda Alejandro nabbed first in 4:37.64.