TURNERS FALLS — It was the Sam Brigham show for the St. Mary’s boys basketball team against Franklin Tech on Thursday in the Eagle Holiday Classic. 

Brigham, a sophomore, used his length to disrupt things at the top of the Saint zone, creating numerous turnovers that led to open layups on the other end. Brigham scored the opening 16 points of the game for St. Mary to help the Saints build an 18-2 lead after eight minutes. 

Brigham’s scoring didn’t stop from there, as he finished the night with 43 points and St. Mary’s advanced to the championship game of the annual event with a 60-25 victory over the Eagles. 

“He’s a good player,” Franklin Tech coach Ryan Roberts said of Brigham. “He’s crafty. That’s a testament to him and the work he’s obviously put in. We can be better on defense, though. Being able to hedge screens, communicating through screens, understanding angles. Credit to him but we can definitely improve on defense.” 

In their opening game of the year, the Eagles struggled to find a rhythm on offense. The Saints held Franklin Tech to a mere two free throws in the first quarter, with Gabe Mota’s second-quarter 3-pointer the first field goal of the game for the Eagles. 

St. Mary’s led 29-7 at the half and 47-13 going into the fourth quarter. 

Mota led the Eagles with seven points while Robert Belval and Jack Gancarz each scored six points in the loss. 

“We just want to get better every game,” Roberts said. “We have 19 games to get better and that’s what we plan on doing.” 

Franklin Tech will square off with Mount Everett in the consolation game at 3:30 p.m. on Friday. St. Mary’s moved on to face Ware — which defeated Mt. Everett 57-41 — in the championship game at 6:30 p.m. 

Pioneer 85, Renaissance 40 — The Panthers came out firing to open the season, building a 46-22 halftime lead before pulling away with an independent win in Springfield on Thursday. 

Brayden Thayer led the way with 25 points and four steals in the win. Kurt Redeker scored 14 points and dished 12 assists, Josh Wood tallied 14 points and pulled down eight boards, Hugh Cyhowski tossed in 12 points while Alex McClelland did a bit of everything, scoring 11 points, dishing six assists and swiping four steals for Pioneer. 

 Girls basketball

Franklin Tech 40, St. Mary’s 21 — The Eagles raced out to a 26-15 halftime lead and were able to shut the Saints out in the fourth quarter, leading to a victory in the Eagle Holiday Classic on Thursday. 

Franklin Tech moves on to the championship game, where it’ll take on Mount Greylock at 8 p.m. on Friday. 

Hannah Gilbert tallied nine points and four steals for the Eagles (1-0). Lea Chapman scored seven points and pulled down seven rebounds, Kyra Goodell scored six points and swiped four steals, Cordelia Guerin and Lilianna Inman both scored five points while Kait Trudeau finished with three points and eight steals in the win. 

Frontier 45, Southwick 35 — Hailey Hutkoski led the way with 13 points, helping the Redhawks earn an independent win over the visiting R ams in their season-opener at Goodnow Gymnasium on Thursday. 

Frontier (1-0) led 19-15 at the half.

Skyler Steele and Harper Modestow each added eight points in the victory while Whitney Campbell tossed in seven points. 

Deerfield Academy scores

Here are the Deerfield Academy results from Wednesday: boys basketball beat Loomis (62-60), girls hockey beat Loomis (2-1), girls squash beat Milton (5-2), wrestling defeated Pomfret (36-28) and BB&N (48-6), the girls swim team beat NMH (104-68) and the boys swim team beat NMH (102-67).