Women’s basketball: Transylvania holds off Smith College in D3 Final Four, 76-65 (PHOTOS)

By HANNAH BEVIS 

HARTFORD, Conn. – With 1 minute, 13 seconds remaining in the game, the Smith College basketball team was down but not out. Trailing 72-65, the Pioneers were starting to see some momentum swing their way. Ally Yamada and Jane Loo hit a pair of triples...

IAABO Senior All Star games takes place at Smith Academy

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

HATFIELD — The top senior basketball players in Franklin and Hampshire County got together at Smith Academy on Friday for the 23rd IAABO Board 28 Senior All Star Game. The girls game kicked off first, and unlike most All Star games, both teams were...

Bulletin Board: Taylor, Rose roll high single in Sunday Scotch Doubles

Lisa Taylor and Keith Rose rolled the high single score of 113 while John Herron and Beth Wiles had the high triple of 293 in Sunday Scotch Doubles at the Shelburne Falls Bowling Alley this past week. Missy Finn rolled the women’s high single (109)...

How Smith College basketball built a D3 Final Four contender

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

The line wrapped around Smith College’s Indoor Track & Tennis complex an hour before tipoff. Smith athletic director Kristen Hughes’ phone lit up with a text, “It’s like a Rihanna concert out here.”Ainsworth Gymnasium holds roughly 500 people, and the...

Frozen Four: Hockey keeps bringing Hadley’s Lisa Ito-Bagshaw back to the Pioneer Valley

By KYLE GRABOWSKI

Hockey drew Lisa Ito-Bagshaw to the Pioneer Valley initially. It keeps bringing her back, too.The nomad who grew up across Canada and in California came to Deerfield Academy with her sister Sara to play hockey. Her parents moved to Hadley to stay...

On the Ridge: Spring events nearing

You wouldn’t believe it by looking outside, but the first day of spring is less than a week away. For sportsmen and women, and those who just love the outdoors, there are a ton of things going on right now all around us, including late season...

Fit to play with Jim Johnson: More is not better

For everything that is good, there is probably a limit on how much is beneficial. This is certainly true for exercise. The benefits of exercise are unequivocal, but too much exercise can hurt us. Exercise places a stress on the body that results in...

Boys basketball: Young Pioneer was ahead of schedule, now stakes go up

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

NORTHFIELD — Maynard boys basketball coach Paul Howes watched his team win a state championship last year and follow that up with a trip (so far) to the semis this winter. After defeating Pioneer 45-32 on Friday at Messer Gymnasium in the...

Bulletin board: Frontier’s Evan Hedlund shines at Indoor Nationals

Frontier’s Evan Hedlund showed well against the top middle school runners in the country on Friday. Competing in the mile at the Nike Indoor Track Nationals at The Armory in New York City, Hedlund finished the mile in a time of 4 minutes, 43 seconds,...

Women’s hockey: Explosive third period pushes Amherst College past Colby, into D3 Frozen Four

By HANNAH BEVIS 

AMHERST – Forty minutes into the NCAA Division 3 women’s hockey quarterfinal between Amherst College and Colby, both sides were a little on edge. The first two periods had been a goaltender’s duel, with Amherst’s Natalie Stott and Colby’s Paige...

Boys basketball: Maynard defeats Pioneer, 45-32, to advance to Div. 5 semis (PHOTOS)

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

NORTHFIELD — To say it was a rock fight at Messer Gymnasium on Friday would be an understatement.With a spot in the MIAA Div. 5 semifinals on the line, neither the Pioneer or Maynard boys basketball teams were giving an inch on the defensive end of...

Greenfield School Committee home school policy revised to allow extracurricular participation

By MARY BYRNE

GREENFIELD – Parents, coaches, teammates and members of the community went to bat Wednesday night for homeschool students who – since a policy change last year – haven’t technically been eligible to participate in extracurricular activities at...

Boys basketball: Season reaches a fever pitch as Pioneer preps to host Maynard in Round of 8

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

And then there was one. As the MIAA state tournaments enter the Round of 8, one Recorder area school remains standing. The Pioneer boys basketball team got one of its toughest tests of the season on Tuesday in a MIAA Div. 5 Round of 16 contest against...

Women’s basketball: Greenfield’s Sam Smith has Babson College in Div. 3 Sweet 16

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

Sam Smith is looking to close out her senior season with a bang. The Greenfield High School alum has the Babson women’s basketball team on the brink of making program history. The Beavers locked up a spot in the NCAA Div. 3 tournament following a 23-5...

Frontier eighth grader Evan Hedlund set to compete in Nike Indoor Track Nationals

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

Frontier’s Evan Hedlund has only been competing in the mile for a short period of time, but you’d never know it by how fast he can run it. Hedlund — just an eighth grader — specializes in running the 2-mile, but decided to give the mile a try during...

Boys basketball: Pioneer holds off KIPP Academy, surges into MIAA Division 5 quarterfinals (PHOTOS)

By GEORGE MILLER

NORTHFIELD — Tuesday night's last four minutes barely sufficed to contain the high tournament drama squeezed into that narrow space.Pioneer built a nine-point lead early in the fourth quarter, lost it to KIPP Academy, grabbed it back and needed two...

Boys basketball: Greenfield’s season comes to an end against Maynard in MIAA Division 5 Round of 16, 84-39

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

MAYNARD — At times it felt like every shot the Maynard boys basketball team took against Greenfield found its way into the bottom of the net. The fifth-seeded Tigers came out roaring during the MIAA Division 5 Round of 16 contest against the No. 12...

Girls basketball: No. 1 Millis knocks off No. 17 Franklin Tech, 67-38, in Round of 16 

By THOMAS JOHNSTON

MILLIS — The Millis defense didn’t give the Franklin Tech girls basketball team an inch to work with on the offensive end the court Monday.The 17th-seeded Eagles scored the opening two baskets of the game, as Kendra Campbell hit a runner while the...

Boys basketball: Defense carries Pioneer in 60-31 thumping of Keefe Tech to punch Div. 5 Round of 16 ticket

By GEORGE MILLER

NORTHFIELD – The new-look state basketball tournament reached back a full quarter-century Friday evening and served up a silver-anniversary rematch, straight out of the Golden Era of Pioneer basketball.The 2023 Panthers encountered little difficulty...

Keeping Score: Sensory overload with the Springfield Thunderbirds

Good morning! Last Sunday at the MassMutual Center the Springfield Thunderbirds beat the Charlotte Checkers, 5-2, in front of 6,241 fans at the third annual “Sensory Friendly” game.“No goal horn, decreased volume on music, consistent lighting and two...