A crucial week of the season saw the Northampton girls basketball team pick up a huge win on Thursday night.

Ava Azzaro put together a monster offensive night, scoring a season-high 31 points to lift the Blue Devils to a 61-53 Valley League victory over Longmeadow.

Azzaro scored 15 points in the first half and 16 in the second, as Northampton led just 27-25 at halftime.

Bri Heafey scored 16 points in the victory, and Emme Calkins hit a trio of clutch second-half 3-pointers to finish with nine points.

Northampton (11-2) can now avenge its only other loss of the season if it can turn around 24 hours later and win on the road at Springfield Central. That game in Springfield is set for 7 p.m. on Friday night. The Blue Devils lost the first meeting, 52-33, just last week.

South Hadley 49, Taconic 28 – A 10th straight victory has the Tigers on the cusp of a Suburban League title.

South Hadley rolled past Taconic to improve to 12-3 overall, 9-1 in the league. A win in one of the team’s final two league games next week would ensure at least a share of the Suburban crown. That starts with a huge game against Wahconah on Monday.

Cara Dean scored 13 points to pace the Tigers, with Kate Phillips and Drew Alley adding eight points each. Ava Asselin scored seven points and Maddie Soderbaum followed with six.

Granby 68, Ludlow 34 – Kalli White had her way offensively for the Rams, scoring 14 of her game-high 22 points in the first half during Granby’s dominant victory on Thursday.

The Rams improved to 9-5 with the win, their third in a row.

Aubrey Parent scored 11 points and Brenna Moreno made it three Granby players in double figures with 10.

Wahconah 55, Hampshire 43 – The Raiders hung tough against a top Suburban League foe, as Hampshire rode balanced scoring in Thursday’s loss in Dalton.

Shayne Moynahan scored a team-high nine points for Hampshire (6-8). Jayden Hamel tallied eight points while Addie Miklasiewicz scored seven. Ashley Cortis and Kat Simmons tossed in six points apiece.

Central 50, Holyoke 24 – The Golden Eagles used a 19-6 edge in the first quarter to create some separation.

Amilyan Treadwell-Mercedes scored 16 points for the Purple Knights, and Kylie Blaha added seven.

Boys basketball

Pathfinder 74, Smith Voc 45 – The Vikings had their two-game win streak snapped with a loss in Northampton on Thursday night.

Ten different players scored points for Smith Voc (6-8), led by Dom Sanchez and Jack Riley with eight points each.

Alpine ski

PVIAC Meet No. 6

The Hampshire County contingent competed in the sixth PVIAC alpine ski meet of the season at Berkshire East on Thursday. Here are local results:

Hampshire

The Raiders’ boys team saw several strong performances, led by Jon Dunn’s first-place finish of 31.41 seconds to capture the top spot in the giant slalom for the first time this winter.

Billy Warren (12th, 33.85), Brandon Couture (14th, 34.12), Isaac Stith (19th, 34.46) and Chad Hockenberry (22nd, 35.21) rounded out Hampshire’s top-25 placers. 

Dana Warren was the only Hampshire girls skier in the top 30 on Thursday, and her time of 50.93 seconds earned her eighth place in the slalom.

PVCICS

Sarah Fardal turned in the best finish of the night for the Dragons, coming down the mountain in a sixth-best time of 48.84 seconds in the girls race. Teammate Alexandra Hyrne (1:00.60) was the next best PVCICS finisher in 28th place.

For the boys, Clayton English (11th, 33.37), Teddy Scott (15th, 34.15) and James Scott (17th, 34.38) were all within a second of each other as they continued their strong seasons with top 20 finishes on Thursday.

Northampton

The girls team saw plenty of individual success at Berkshire East, with Simone Pagar (18th, 56.37) leading the charge. Right behind Pagar were a plethora of Blue Devils racers, including Camilla Hatch (19th, 56.96), Maisie Tuck (20th, 57.57), Crystal Eichwald-Hoopes (24th, 59.33), Giselle Ohm (25th, 1:00.26) and Zivia Parikh (26th, 1:00.34).

On the boys side, it was Keller Mahoney (fifth, 32.36) and Jasper Tuck (26th, 36.12) turning in quality days on the slopes.

Amherst

The ‘Canes were led by Alex Cain and his time of 35.53 on Thursday, as he crossed the line 25th to lead all Amherst boys racers. Wes Dunford wasn’t far behind in 30th place (37.38).

As for the Hurricane girls team, Maya Phillips (31st, 1:02.08) and Annika Redington (32nd, 1:02.26) were the fastest finishers in PVIAC’s sixth meet.

Late Wednesday results

Boys basketball

Granby 53, Baystate Academy 34 — Cody White’s 14 points led a Rams offense that saw three players score over 10 points in Granby’s win over the Bulls in an independent matchup.

Colin Murdock and NeNe Fernandez each tossed in 11 points, while Cody Breault (six) and Ben Berger (six) combined for 12 points for the Rams.

Boys hockey

Amherst 3, Taconic 1 — Yuuki Ishida netted two goals, including a second-period tally that stood as the game winner, to help the ‘Canes past Taconic on Wednesday night.

Skyler Ferro added the third Amherst goal in the third period for some insurance, and Ben Remensnyder, Ferro and Liam Flynn each recorded assists. Spencer McDonald earned the win in goal.

Nordic ski

The Amherst and Mohawk Trail (which co-ops with Hampshire) teams competed in their fourth race of the season on Wednesday afternoon on a 6K course at Notchview Reservation in Windsor.

On the boys side, Mount Greylock’s Oliver Swabey (17:10) took home first place as the Mounties turned in 12 points to win the meet comfortably.

The highest local finisher was Mohawk’s Augustus Niswonger, a student at Hampshire, with a time of 18:35 that earned him eighth place. Adam Muller (Hampshire) finished 21st in 21:05 and Luke Pickard (Hampshire) crossed the line 33rd with a time of 21:30 to round out the Warriors’ scoring.

For Amherst, Ian Burns (14th, 19:21), Julian Camera (20th, 20:32), Calvin Miller (21st, 20:33) and Peter Nedeau (24th, 21:10) each cracked the top 25 as the ‘Canes finished fifth as a team with 79 points.

As for the girls race, Anne Miller (20:58) of Mount Greylock finished first to lead the Mounties to 30 points and the win.

Amherst was close behind with 33 points and took second place. Elizabeth Sawicki snuck into the top five with a fifth-place finish in 22:38, while Zoey Candito (seventh, 22:45) and Addie Mager (10th, 23:32) finished in the top 10. River Wolaver (11th, 23:34), Isla Cusick (14th, 23:57) and Genevieve Dole (24th, 26:51) were other top finishers for the ‘Canes.

The top Hampshire finishers racing for Mohawk were Charlotte Niswonger (8th place, 22:52), Corinne Somes (9th place, 23:09) and Ada Corner (30th place, 27:05).