AMHERST ― The Red Hawks bounced back on Saturday from their season-opening loss, learning from their mistakes and quickly adapting to their new system.
Frontier girls basketball defeated SICS, 50-36, at the Pioneer Valley Tip-Off.
The Red Hawks scored first on a driving layup from Skyler Steele and did not look back, leading by as many as 12 in the opening quarter. The Bulldogs’ offense struggled to find offense in the opening period, with only two made field goals in the first seven minutes of the game.
But just before the first quarter came to a close, a deep three from Alanie Torres at the buzzer pulled the Bulldogs back within nine.
Both teams started the second quarter slow until Addie Harrington restored Frontier’s double-digit lead with six minutes remaining. But the Red Hawks could not build on their advantage in the second, as the Bulldogs’ defense picked up. A second three from Torres brought the Bulldogs within seven with under three minutes in the first half.
But the Red Hawks closed the quarter well and held a 10-point advantage at halftime.
The Bulldogs came out strong in the second half, starting with a three from London Elmore to get within seven. But as much as the Bulldogs pushed, the Red Hawks did not let up on the offensive end, with Harrington and Steele using their two-man game to great effect.
“We both know if one of us gets a rebound, one of us is running up the court,” Harrington said. “(Steele) can pass the ball like crazy and finishing (in transition) is just key and I think we’re both pretty (good) at that.”
The Bulldogs’ offensive struggles returned in the late in the third, scoring just two points in the last four minutes of the quarter. The Red Hawks took advantage, pushing their lead back to 10 heading into the fourth.
The Bulldogs never recovered and the Red Hawks held on to a comfortable victory.
Steele finished with a game-high 22 points, supported by Harrington with 21, combining for 43 of the Red Hawks’ 50 total points. Frontier earns its first win of the season, having dropped its season-opener at home to Northampton on Thursday.
“Our communication was 100% better and overall rebounding,” Harrington said. “I thought we pushed the ball more and we were more patient on offense, so it gave us more looks instead of freaking out.”
Frontier girls basketball head coach David Hastings earns his first win with the Red Hawks, taking over from Dave Machon. Hastings previously coached boys basketball at Pioneer Valley Reg. for 17 years before joining Keene State’s men’s basketball program.
He spent two seasons as the Owls’ assistant head coach before being named the associate head coach, holding the position for five years before being promoted to head coach during the 2023-2024 season. Hastings guided the Owls back to a second consecutive Sweet 16 appearance in the NCAA Division III tournament.
“The way our girls played was more in the style that we wanted to play,” Hastings said of Saturday’s win. “(We were) a little more up-tempo; offensively (and) defensively I thought they communicated exceptionally well.
“It’s a work in progress here… the idea of ‘if every day we can get one percent better’ — that’s not a joke, it’s a serious statement for them and they are getting one percent better every day. Hopefully, they’re playing the best they can by the end of the year.”
The Red Hawks are coming off a string of successful seasons in the Franklin North conference, placing second every season since winning the league title in 2021. But after the PVIAC’s conference realignment this past year, Frontier finds itself in new territory in the Suburban conference.
Losing Division IV state finalist South Hadley has certainly weakened the overall strength of the conference. But for the Red Hawks, introducing new teams like Pope Francis, Wahconah and the two-time defending Division V state champions Hoosac Valley, while filling out the schedule with more independent games against stronger competition like Northampton and Pittsfield, will only benefit the players’ development.
“It’s definitely good that we’re playing better teams (this year),” Steele said. “That’ll prepare us for tournament (play) a lot better than last year. These high-intensity games is definitely a lot better than the ones where we have to hold back.”
Frontier (1-1) will look to build on this when the Red Hawks take on Hoosac Valley on Tuesday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.
SICS (1-1) will look to bounce back from this loss when the Bulldogs take on Longmeadow on Tuesday, Dec. 17 in their home opener at 6:30 p.m.
“We’re a young team, we’re going to learn something every single time we come out here,” SICS girls basketball coach Tyrone Reid said. “Today was just about composure to start the game. We got into panic mode early and we let them jump out to an early lead with some leak out layups.
“Being on the big court, obviously it’s an adjustment and we didn’t make that adjustment early on, which allowed (Frontier) to get out on us early… once we settled in there, we were getting stops, but it’s different this season — offensively, everyone’s got to contribute. So in games where shots aren’t falling or we’re not moving the ball quickly, it’s going to be tough to score and we know that. We just got to keep reinventing the wheel, keep trying different things, working the offense and just seeing what works and just build off of that.”
