Just under a month into the winter basketball season, two teams remain without a loss on their record. 

The Pioneer boys sit at 6-0 heading after taking down Greenfield, 54-45, on Thursday night, while the Franklin Tech girls are unbeaten at 7-0. 

The Panthers have been able to keep their opponents at bay thus far, winning four of their games by double-figures, but that will change in short order. Pioneer opened with wins over Franklin Tech (62-52), Smith Academy (72-46), Lenox (48-40), Mahar (59-37) and Turners (67-31), but the upcoming slate will be against teams sitting atop the Hampshire League South. After beating Greenfield on Thursday, Pioneer will face off against Hopkins (4-0) next Tuesday and Drury (5-1), the defending HL South champs, next Friday.

The young Panthers — who don’t have a senior on their roster — have seen their players take a step forward, with junior Josh Wood (16.6 points-per-game), sophomore Kurt Redeker (12.6 PPG) and sophomore Brayden Thayer (12.4 PPG) carrying the load offensively thus far. 

Thursday’s matchup that will likely have big implications for years to come. Like Pioneer, Greenfield is a young squad with its top three scorers — Caleb Murray (15 PPG), Jon Breor (14.3 PPG) and Jackson Campbell (11.2 PPG) — all sophomores. Both teams look like they’ll be in contention for the HL South now, and for the foreseeable future, adding more meaning to Thursday’s first of two meetings.

■ The Franklin Tech girls looked like they were going to face one of their toughest tests of the season on Tuesday, making the long drive out to Lenox to take on the then 5-0 Millionaires. 

Despite being without leading scorer Hannah Gilbert, the Eagles walked away with a 43-34 victory to keep their unblemished record intact. Multiple players stepped up in Gilbert’s absence, with Kaitlin Trudeau (13), Kendra Campbell (10) and Lea Chapman (10) each scoring in double-figures to earn the win over Lenox. 

It’s been stifling defense that’s gotten the job done for Tech during its win streak. No team has topped 40 points on the Eagles thus far, with Tech giving up an average of just 29.7 points-per-game through seven contests. If the Eagles can keep up that ferocious defense, they’ll be a tough out for anyone they face the rest of the way. 

Who can knock Tech off in the Franklin County League South? The team closest in the standings is Pioneer, who under first year coach Kevin Harrington, is 3-0 in FCL South action. The Eagles and Panthers will get together for the first of their two matchups on Jan. 17 in Turners. 

■ Credit to Athol boys basketball coach Brian Patria for having his team ready to go to start the season. Last season ended on just about as tough of a note as possible, with the Bears being knocked out of the Div. 5 state tournament on a buzzer beater against Innovation Academy. But there’s been no hangover from that game. 

Athol won its first five games of the season, three of those wins coming against Hampshire League North opponents. The Bears suffered their first loss of the season on Tuesday against Chicopee Comp, a Div. 2 school. Athol will look to keep the early season momentum going, as it searches to knock off Mt. Greylock and take home the HL North title. The Mounties head to Mallet Gymnasium on Tuesday. 

■ It was a great showing for the Greenfield hockey team down in Holyoke last week at the Chicopee Holiday Classic. 

The Green Wave defeated Agawam, 5-2, in the semifinals, which set up a rematch against Gardner, who Greenfield knocked out of the MIAA Div. 4 tournament in the preliminary round with a 3-0 victory last season. 

It was another good early season test for the Green Wave, with Matt Lavoine being the hero, scoring with just seconds left in overtime to lift Greenfield to a 2-1 victory to win the tournament. 

The Green Wave always challenge themselves during the non-conference slate, already having played Westfield, the Brownies and East Longmeadow before squaring off with Minnechaug on Thursday and Longmeadow on Saturday. 

Those tough tests should prepare Greenfield for the fierce opponents it will face in the postseason. So far, the Green Wave were 5-3 on the season thanks to Thursday night’s 3-2 win over Minnechaug.

■ With rivalries dwindling around the state, it's great to see that there is always a buzz whenever Athol and Mahar get together, no matter the sport. 

That was the case on Wednesday, when the two schools met on the wrestling mat. The meet was scheduled to begin at 7 p.m., but didn’t get underway until 7:55 as the crowd awaited the arrival of a referee. I didn’t recall seeing one person in the packed gym in Orange leave their seat, which speaks to the rivalry and desire to see those two schools compete. 

All the fans who stuck around were treated to a great match, with 11 of the 14 weight classes being filled and contested, not something that always happens. The Bears made a furious comeback late, winning the final four  matches, to force a 42-42 tie.

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