WESTFIELD – Hopkins Academy wanted to embrace the moment of Saturday’s Western Massachusetts Class D championship.

The No. 2 Golden Hawks were facing No. 1 Pioneer for the third time after splitting two Hampshire League South matchups. Westfield High School was packed with fans from Hadley, Northfield and beyond. It was a rematch of the 2018 championship game, the last time either squad reached a sectional final.

The moment overwhelmed the Golden Hawks in the first half, and they never fully recovered.

Hopkins Academy scored just five points in the second quarter and couldn’t catch up to the Panthers in a 63-57 loss.

“Everybody came in and we thought, ‘let's get a revenge game.’ And we came into the environment and then we were like, ‘wow, there's a lot of people here,’ and it was like, ‘oh, we're scared,’” Hopkins Academy guard Teddy Cyr said. “We played a little scared.”

The Golden Hawks led 14-13 after the first quarter behind 10 points from Cyr, who finished with a game-high 28 points. It was his second 20-point effort of the sectional tournament and sixth of the season, three points off his career high (31 against Mahar on Dec. 19).

“I just step up,” Cyr said. “I try to help the team in any way I can.”

Pioneer (18-3) scored the first six points of the second quarter to take the lead for good. The Panthers outscored Hopkins Academy (17-4) 14-5 and carried an eight-point lead at the break.

“We just got a little bit too comfortable after leading in the first quarter and couldn’t buy a basket,” Hopkins Academy’s James Fitzgibbons said.

The Golden Hawks never let the Panthers pull away, though. They kept their deficit in single digits for the first 15 minutes of the second half. Cyr and Cody West hit back to back 3s to shave the gap to 29-27 with 5 minutes, 22 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

Hopkins Academy pulled within 3 after Fitzgibbons sank a layup and Cyr converted a steal and score to make it 36-33 with 2:26 to go in the third.

But the Golden Hawks could never pull even or ahead, and Pioneer built its advantage slowly. It reached double digits for the first and only time with 2:15 remaining after Brayden Thayer splashed a jumper to make it 55-45.

“It’s not like [Pioneer did] anything different. They're pretty methodical,” Hopkins Academy coach Jim Hart said. “They do the same thing over and over, and we just had to come up with a better, better defensive effort in terms of stopping them.”

Hopkins Academy got up off the mat and clawed. West was fouled shooting a triple with 23.8 seconds remaining and made all three free throws to make it a one-score game once more.

“We went down eight and we didn’t have a vibe,” Cyr said. “When the student section started cheering, and our bench started having energy, that’s when we started pitching it up.”

Pioneer executed down the stretch and claimed its first sectional title since 2018 and sixth overall.

“Back to 2018 when we played them in the finals, it’s the same… they’re a small community like us but they show up and we show up,” Pioneer coach Scott Thayer said. “It makes it a fun atmosphere for all the kids. Two of the smallest schools in Western Mass. and we’re here.”

They’ll both be in the state tournament, too. Hopkins Academy is the No. 7 seed in Division 5, Pioneer is No. 4. The Golden Hawks will await the winner of No. 26 Saint Bernard's and No. 39 Old Colony RVT in the Round of 32.  

“We really only can learn from it,” Fitzgibbons said. “You have to move on.”

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