Hampshire County sports storylines that shaped the year 2024

By GARRETT COTE

What a year it has been across the Hampshire County sports world. From January to December, the Pioneer Valley witnessed one of its very own capture a trio of gold medals at the 2024 Paris Olympics, a local college team capture an NCAA national...

UMass roundup: Allie Palmieri scores 31 points as Minutewomen open A-10 play with 78-61 win over Fordham

It was an impressive start to the UMass women’s basketball team’s final Atlantic 10 Conference season.The Minutewomen opened A-10 play in fine fashion on Sunday afternoon, building an early lead and keeping Fordham at arm’s length en route to a 78-61...

High school roundup: Frontier girls roll past Franklin Tech; Holyoke boys sink Longmeadow on buzzer beater

Four players secured double-digit point totals for the Frontier girls basketball team in its 82-28 win against Franklin Tech on Friday.Skyler Steele (18 points), Jazzy Hayes (13 points), Olivia Machon (11 points) and Whitney Campbell (10 points) led...

Boys hockey: Amherst notches impressive 3-2 win over Minnechaug at MassMutual Center

By RYAN AMES

SPRINGFIELD – The Amherst boys hockey team picked up its first win of the season in a 3-2 victory over Minnechaug on Friday afternoon at the MassMutual Center.Freshman Nate Desbian deposited two goals for the Hurricanes (1-2-1) while senior goalie...

Amherst’s Jameson Dion excited for future after committing to play football at the University of New Hampshire

By GARRETT COTE

Jameson Dion was fresh off a 295-yard, five-touchdown rushing performance against Putnam in the opening contest of his senior season at Amherst Regional, and the Hurricanes were set to host Springfield International Charter School in their first night...

High schools: Domeniq Sanchez, Jack Riley help Smith Vocational boys basketball edge PVCICS in overtime

The Smith Vocational boys basketball team edged PVCICS, 68-60, in overtime on Monday night at the Hampshire College Gymnasium in Amherst.The score was knotted up 54-54 after 32 minutes of regulation, but it was the Vikings who outscored the Dragons,...

Indoor track: Here’s how local athletes fared in PVIAC Meet No. 2

By GARRETT COTE

NORTHAMPTON — The second PVIAC indoor track meet of the season took place on Sunday at Smith College, with Amherst, Frontier, Northampton, South Hadley, Hampshire and Holyoke participating throughout the day.The Purple Knights and Raiders opened the...

UMass men's soccer to join Summit League as affiliate member in 2025

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — When the University of Massachusetts announced it would be moving its athletic programs to the Mid-American Conference for the start of the 2025-26 academic school year, one program in particular was left with a question mark. The MAC...

UMass football: Minutemen add trio of new coaches to Joe Harasymiak's staff

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — Following a flurry of defensive coaching hires from new UMass head football coach Joe Harasymiak over the past two weeks, the Minutemen have started to round out the staff on the offensive side of the ball. It started with offensive...

UMass basketball: Arizona State swarms Minutemen in second half to capture Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield

By GARRETT COTE

SPRINGFIELD — Sometimes when a team loses, self-inflicted wounds or a poor performance stand as the reasons why. Other times, however, the opposing team is simply better.Both were the case on Saturday evening at the MassMutual Center in Springfield,...

High schools: Makayla Tatro, Smith Voc thump Hampden Charter

Makayla Tatro’s 17 points led the Smith Vocational girls basketball team past Hampden Charter, 50-19, on Friday night.Tatro drilled seven field goals and also hit three free-throws as the Vikings improved to 2-1 on the season.Nyia-Marie Forbes (six...

Girls hockey preview: Williston Northampton, Pope Francis prime for big seasons again

By RYAN AMES

The journey back to the NEPSAC title game has begun for the Williston Northampton girls hockey team, as the puck has dropped on the Wildcats’ 2024-25 season.Williston lost to top-seeded Noble & Greenough in the Chuck Vernon Elite Division championship...

UMass basketball: Minutewomen keep surging, rout UMass-Lowell 53-33

Dominant might be an understatement when describing the UMass women’s basketball team’s second-half performance on Friday afternoon against UMass Lowell.The Minutewomen ended the game on a 26-6 run that spanned over 16 minutes of game time, and they...

High school wrestling preview: Belchertown program returns after 8 years away

By RYAN AMES

After nearly a decade-long absence, wrestling is back at Belchertown High School.The 2024-25 season marks the first time the Orioles have had a wrestling program since 2016. First-year athletic director and head wrestling coach Kevin McNeill led the...

High schools: Braylon Jarrett paces Hampshire Regional in boys basketball win over Hopkins Academy

Braylon Jarrett’s 18 points helped the Hampshire Regional boys basketball team take down Hopkins Academy, 48-29, on Thursday at Zalot Gymnasium in Westhampton.Jarrett drained three 3-pointers for the Raiders, which improved to 2-1. Vynce Carr also...

The Real Score: The power of service through sport

Sport fandom is all about building community in the professional sport industry, but most sport takes place within our communities. From a financial perspective, participatory sports accounted for 63.5% of the global sport market in 2023 and in the...

College soccer: Belchertown coach Zach Siano reminded of Ethan Czaporowski’s state title-winning goal during Vermont’s OT thriller

By GARRETT COTE

Ethan Czaporowski isn’t a stranger to game-winning goals in sudden-death overtime championship game situations. Although Czaporowski was ecstatic and stormed the field with the rest of his University of Vermont teammates after Maximilian Kissel evaded...

UMass basketball: Jaylen Curry's big shot helps Minutemen survive late Northeastern scare for 77-72 win

By GARRETT COTE

AMHERST — After Northeastern erupted for 10 straight points as part of a 12-1 run late in the second half, the UMass men’s basketball team saw its double-digit lead with under seven minutes left evaporate as the clock ticked under two to go.But as he...

High schools: Northampton girls snag 60-47 road victory over South Hadley in battle of Hampshire County powers

By RYAN AMES

SOUTH HADLEY — The Northampton girls basketball team powered past South Hadley, 60-47, in an independent tilt on Wednesday night.Bri Heafey had 19 points to pace the visitors, including a team-high three 3-pointers, while Liv Joensen (15 points) and...

Boys ice hockey preview: Amherst, Easthampton looking to book return trips to the state tournament

By RYAN AMES

Optimism is swirling around the Amherst Regional boys hockey team in the early parts of the 2024-25 season.The Hurricanes lost eight seniors to graduation and fell in its first game of the season to Greenfield on Tuesday, 7-1, but head coach Mike...