HATFIELD – A second quarter shutout from the Hampshire Regional boys’ basketball team was all it took to secure a 47-28 win on the road against Smith Academy Tuesday night.

The last time these two teams went head to head, the Falcons captured a four-point victory. Tuesday night however, the Raiders (9-7) were able to execute down the stretch and earn the regular-season split.

“Today, we were able to execute,” said Hampshire Regional coach Dylan Rickles. “The numbers don't lie. You know, we're gonna hit as many corners 3s and we're gonna make as many shots with the defensive effort we could maintain and that's what we did and that's why we were victorious.”

From tip off, both teams played high level basketball going shot for shot on both ends of the floor.

Jake Wilcox quickly tallied six of the Falcons’ 15 points in the first quarter of play as he blew past the Raiders defense and got into the paint.

Answering on the other end of the floor was Hampshire’s Benjamin Pierce, who was able to attack the baseline for a bucket and later found himself at the charity stripe for a pair of free throws. Pierce put his team in the lead scoring four points that put the Raiders up 16-15 at the end of the first quarter.

After the short intermission, Hampshire Regional played picture-perfect defense as the team didn’t allow a single point in the second quarter. That high level defense forced Smith Academy’s hand into submission as the Falcons recorded seven consecutive turnovers at one point in the frame.

“I don't think we changed anything, we started executing a lot better and started to catch fire,” said Hampshire’s Kole Kolodziej. “We just started playing a lot better as a team and you can really see the chemistry here.”

That allowed the Raiders to slip into a comfortable 32-15 lead at the half courtesy of an 18-0 run led by Adam Golasinski, who produced 10 of his team's 16 points in the quarter.

Coming out of the locker room, Smith (8-7) had to up the ante and get itself back into the game.

The Falcons were able to get back on the scoreboard with eight points as they controlled the pace in the first four minutes of the third quarter.

“[Matt Zerneri’s] a great coach, I knew he was going to come out with something to get his guys motivated at home,” said Rickles of the Smith Academy coach. “We just tried to really focus on the execution defensively. We could control the ball, limit turnovers and play good solid defense. I knew we were going to be OK.”

Smith still trailed behind 15 points entering the fourth quarter, and the Raiders managed to close it out from there.

Golasinski scored a game-high 15 points. Pierce added 11 points and Jack Wresien scored seven points in the win.

Wilcox led the way with 12 points, while Cam Graves added eight and Greg Stone tossed in seven for the Falcons.

Next up, Hampshire returns home to host Mount Greylock on Friday while the Falcons take to the road to play Athol.

 Putnam 62, Northampton 49 – Naihmond Peters-Wolfe scored 21 of his 23 points in the second half, but the Blue Devils were unable to overcome an 18-point halftime deficit in Tuesday’s loss in Northampton.

Peters-Wolfe hit five 3-pointers on the night for the Devils, which trailed 34-18 at halftime. Silas Coles scored 12 points and JJ Moore added eight on the night.

Pioneer 53, Hopkins 35 — The Golden Hawks trailed just 26-22 at the half but managed just 13 second half points, as the Panthers pulled away for a Hampshire League South win in Hadley on Tuesday. 

James Fitzgibbons led Hopkins with 18 points. Owen Earle tossed in seven points and Julian Gaudette scored six points in the loss. 

Girls basketball

PV Christian 63, PVCICS 27 – The undefeated Eagles improved to 16-0 with the victory on Tuesday night.

PV Christian led 20-6 after one quarter and 29-14 at halftime.

PVCICS’ Isabella Cestero led the way with eight points, and Lydia Allen scored six points for the Dragons.

Late Monday results

Girls basketball

Hampshire 52, Belchertown 45 — Addie Miklasiewicz’s team-high 10 points stood as one of eight Raiders players to record a field goal in a win that improved Hampshire to 7-8 on Monday night.

Shayne Moynahan (eight) and Kat Simmons (seven) combined for 15 points in the win.

Chloe LaRoche put up a game-high 21 points for Belchertown, while Laura Cote and Morghan Litz added seven points apiece. The Orioles dropped to 5-10 with the loss.

Boys hockey

Ludlow 4, Amherst 1 — Joshua Feldman netted the lone goal for the Hurricanes. The late third-period goal was unassisted.

Four different Lions players found the back of the net.