SOUTH DEERFIELD – Start your engines.
The Frontier Regional girls basketball team raced out to a commanding start against Hopkins Academy and kept he Golden Hawks at bay in a 52-32 victory Thursday at home.
The Redhawks opened the game with an 11-0 run thanks to the strength of their pressure.
“Being able to put a lot of pressure on the ball and start off in our speed is a huge asset to the team,” Frontier’s Kylie Laford said. “A lot of the girls like to run the fast pace, and it puts a lot of emphasis on who we are as a team and the game we play.”
Frontier kept Hopkins Academy off the scoreboard for the game’s first 4 minutes, 38 seconds. The Golden Hawks didn’t score until Chloe Jekanowski sank a layup with 3:22 remaining that made it 11-2.
“A lot of the effort has come from our practices, and it hasn’t come easy,” Laford said.
The Redhawks grew their lead to 15 by the end of the third quarter, but Hopkins wasn’t going away.
The Golden Hawks cut the deficit back to eight through its own defensive effort and pressure. Jekanowski, who led Hopkins Academy with 15 points, put back an offensive rebound off the window with 6 minutes remaining.
“The press and diving for loose balls, any loose ball we were getting, we were able to execute more on offense. Our energy and the press was key for that,” Hopkins Academy coach Mike Prattico said. “We had a big fight, but our experience and the lack thereof hurt us in the long run.”
Frontier inserted its core lineup back into the game once the score tightened after trying to get younger players some experience throughout the middle quarters. Laford broke the press for a layup to push the lead back to 10, and Alena Maes-Poulan, who was stellar on defense all game, stole the ball for a breakaway layup to make it 37-25 with 5:00 left.
“We go back to that core group and the composure comes back, and I think that’s really impressive that they can do that,” Frontier coach Dave Machon said.
Laford led Frontier with 18 points, hitting two 3-pointers. Hailey Hutkoski added 13, while Kaitlyn Mackin scored eight.
Sadie Cyr chipped in seven points for the Golden Hawks, making five free throws.