CHESHIRE – The Pioneer girls basketball team had already beaten one Berkshire County team in the Western Mass. Class D tournament.

Taking down top-seeded Hoosac Valley proved to be a bridge too far.

Hoosac, winners in last year’s inaugural Class D tournament, got to its second final in as many years by handing the fourth-seeded Panthers a 70-46 defeat Thursday. The game had been postponed from Wednesday due to threatening road conditions.

Pioneer (12-8) got to the semifinals after beating fifth-seeded Mount Everett in the first game of the tournament.

Hoosac (14-6) led by as many as 16 points in the first half, but a 9-2 run to close out the second quarter cut the deficit for the Panthers to 30-21.

The Hurricanes’ Gabby Billetz, the only senior on the roster of the top seeds, hit a short jumper from the right wing to open the third quarter. Then, after Hoosac got the ball on an alternate possession, Billetz and Ashlyn Lesure worked a pick-and-roll to perfection, with Billetz scoring inside.

Those were the first four points in a 16-5 run the broke the game open.

“Our goal was to cut it to 10” at halftime, Pioneer coach Kevin Harrington said. “At the same moment in time, this is a fantastic basketball team that was going to kind of press us. We were trying to work hard, work on our fundamentals and stay focused on, again, just trying to chip away.

“We knew they would be tough and it would be a real big ask for us to put the pressure on them. I thought we did for maybe about 12 minutes, but it’s a lot longer basketball game than that.”

Hoosac led 11-2 out of the gate and by 21-9 at the end of one quarter.

The top seeds extended the lead to 28-12 with 2:30 left in the second quarter. The Panthers started their run when Laura Kahler hit a jumper from the left elbow. That caused Hoosac coach Jon Frederick to call time.

The Panthers weren’t done. After Maryn Cappiello missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for Hoosac, Sofia Walker got the rebound and Kahler scored at the other end. A basket by Kyler McClelland and a 3-point play by Hailey Ring completed the Pioneer run and made it 28-21.

Abby Scialabba’s hoop with 10 seconds left accounted for the 30-21 halftime score.

“We had a lot of nervous energy today,” said Frederick. “I think the kids were really excited to play and we weren’t ourselves. You could tell in the first half, we struggled with things we typically don’t struggle with. We were making some crazy, wild passes, just not on point. That’s really not us.”

The 13-2 run to open the third quarter was started by Billitz’s back-to-back hoops and finished with a 3-point basket from Lesure and a two by Scialabba. Four minutes into the third quarter, the Hurricanes had put up what turned out to be an insurmountable 20-point lead.

Lesure had a game-high 24 points, while Billetz had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

Pioneer freshman McClelland had 18 points to lead her team. She made five 3-point baskets.

The two teams will now wait until Saturday afternoon to find out who and where they will open the MIAA Division 5 tournament. As of Thursday, Hoosac is the fifth seed in D-5 and Pioneer is No. 35.

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PIONEER VALLEY (46)

Kahler 3-2-8, Ndiaye 0-0-0, Walker 1-1-3, Dunklee 1-0-2, Potter 0-0-0, McClelland 6-1-18, H. Ring 4-3-11, Harrington 2-0-4, C Ring 0-0-0. Totals 17-7-46.

HOOSAC VALLEY (70)

Cappiello 0-3-3, Billetz 5-2-12 H. Shea 2-0-5, Meczywor 3-2-9, McNeice 0-0-0, Lesure 6-9-24, R. Shea 0-1-1, Scialabba 3-0-6, Klose 0-0-0, Luciano 0-0-0, Garabedian 4-2-10, Tart 0-0-0. Totals 23-19-70.

3-point baskets — PV 5 (McClelland 5). HV 5 (Lesure 3, H. Shea, Meczywor).

Turners 51, Mt. Everett 40 — Taylor Greene poured in 23 points, nine in the first half and 14 in the second half, as the Thunder pulled away with a non-playoff win against the Eagles in Sheffield on Thursday. 

Turners (11-9) now awaits its seed in next week’s MIAA Div. 5 state tournament. 

Madi Liimatainen and Steph Peterson both scored eight points while Raygan Pendriss chipped in six points in the victory. 

Boys basketball

Lenox 58, Athol 55 — The Bears led 45-38 heading into the final eight minutes but the Millionaires saved their best for last, outscoring Athol 20-10 in the fourth to pull away with a non-playoff win in Lenox on Thursday. 

Athol heads into the MIAA Div. 5 tournament with a 12-8 record. 

Logan Cormier finished with 18 points, Ben Kearney tacked on 13 points, Conall Tontodonato recorded eight points and Angel Castillo finished with seven points for the Bears. 

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