HADLEY – The return engagement of second seed Hopkins Academy and seventh seed Smith Academy in the Western Mass. Class D quarterfinals played out far differently this time around.

Hopkins won the 2022 matchup in a breeze, 50-32. Monday night's rematch saw Smith go out to a seven-point lead late in the second quarter and lead by five at the half.

The Golden Hawks then turned it on in the third quarter, pressuring the Falcons into nine turnovers, putting up a 20-11 advantage over those eight minutes, and Hopkins gave itself the necessary late boost to move forward to a 60-51 home victory at Reed Memorial Gymnasium.

Hopkins, now 16-3, will host No. 3-seeded Hoosac Valley in a semifinal game. Smith dropped to 13-6.

"I think we sort of played scared in the first couple of quarters," said Golden Hawks coach Jim Hart. "Our game is transition. If we get into a halfcourt set, we struggle. In order to get good shots, we've got to get good ball movement."

Center James Fitzgibbons made his presence felt in the middle of the Smith zone, scoring 17 of his team-high 23 points in the second half. The Hawks also got double-digit efforts out of Chace Earle (13 points, three 3-pointers) and Cody West (11 points), and Teddy Cyr added seven.

Griffin Smiarowski was the Falcons' powerhouse throughout. He pumped in 17 of his game-high 28 points in the first half alone, when Smith took a 28-23 lead, and also dropped all five of his team's 3-point makes.

After a 9-9 tie through one quarter, Smiarowski gave Smith a cushion with back-to-back treys and a fast-break score after a bucket by Jake Wilcox, putting the visitors up 19-14. West and Earle answered with 3-pointers of their own, but Riley Intrator (nine points) hit a long jumper and a layup, followed by another deep ball from Smiarowski, and the Falcons led 28-21. West then beat the halftime horn with a putback on an offensive rebound to make it 28-23.

From a 34-34 tie, Hopkins ran off seven in a row with a left-corner three and a pair at the line by Earle, then a transition bucket by West, for a 41-34 lead that forced a Smith timeout with 1:28 left in the third. The Falcons answered with a post-up score by Ryan Belina and a trey from out top by Smiarowski, pulling back to within two, but Fitzgibbons scored before the buzzer to make it a 43-39 game after three.

Fitzgibbons then put up the first seven points of the fourth for Hopkins for a 50-41 lead.

Twice in the final quarter, Smiarowski was fouled in the act of shooting a 3-pointer and calmly drained all six of his free throws to keep Smith within shouting distance. His second set of three pulled the Falcons within 52-49 at the 3:58 mark. From there, the Golden Hawks scored the next seven points to get out of danger, with a trey by West, a turnaround in the lane from Fitzgibbons and two at the line by Cyr.

"James got the ball where we wanted him to get the ball, and it's just a matter of finishing with him," said Hart. "I thought he made some good drives to the basket, he posted up, and he did a pretty good job."

Duggan 48, Granby 41 — Riley Goodhind scored 12 points on four 3s, as the No. 4 Rams fell at home. Carter White added 11 points.

No. 5 Duggan jumped out to a 15-9 lead after one, but Granby (12-7) rallied for a 35-34 lead after three quarters. 

The Rams only produced six fourth quarter points after that.

Class A quarters

Pope Francis 53, Amherst 39 — The eighth-seeded Hurricanes trailed just 21-16 at halftime but couldn’t close the gap in the second half against top-seeded Pope Francis in the Class A quarterfinals on Monday in Springfield.

The teams had split their two regular season meetings, including Amherst’s wild quadruple overtime win on Jan. 11.

Yahseil DeviDalomba led a balanced scoring attack for the ’Canes with eight points, while Ian Waite, Marcielo Aquino and Christian Martin all chipped in seven points.

Amherst, which dropped to 10-9 overall, will play a non-playoff game later this week before the MIAA Division 2 state tournament begins next week.

Longmeadow 68, Northampton 60 – Silas Coles scored 18 points, but the No. 5 Blue Devils lost on the road. 

They led 18-17 after a quarter, but the Lancers pulled ahead in the second and held ’Hamp (12-7) at bay.

Kelvin Perez hit two 3s for Northampton and added 17 points. Northampton’s Ben Sledzieski added another two 3s and scored nine points.

Class B quarters

South Hadley 60, Pittsfield 59 – The No. 6 Tigers made their free throw down the stretch to secure a road victory over the No. 3 Generals in the Berkshires.

Jack Loughrey made 1-of-2 from the line to give South Hadley (12-6) a four-point lead, and the Generals made a long 3 at the buzzer to secure the final margin.

Chase Mathers, who scored 17 points, made two free throws to make it 59-56.

Colin Quinn led South Hadley with 21 points.

Eddie Wykowski grabbed 14 rebounds and played all 32 minutes for the Tigers.

South Hadley will travel to No. 2 Springfield International for the semifinals.

SICS 66, Belchertown 55 – No. 7 Belchertown came within striking distance of No. 2 SICS, but couldn’t pull off the win in a loss in the Class B quarterfinal. 

Tyler McDonald led the team with 14 points, followed closely by Jackson Couchon and Ty Bogdanovich with 10 apiece. 

The Orioles were within seven at halftime, down 30-23, and pulled within eight with four minutes to go. Untimely turnovers and missed free throws were Belchertown’s downfall. 

Belchertown will play a non-playoff game on Thursday against a to-be-determined opponent. 

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