And then there was one. 

As the MIAA state basketball tournaments head into the quarterfinal rounds, just one Recorder area team remains: the Pioneer Valley Regional boys basketball team. 

The unbeaten Panthers (23-0) haven’t been tested often this season. In fact, just two of Pioneer’s 23 games have been decided by 10 points or less — Greenfield on Dec. 23 (70-62) and Hoosac Valley on Dec. 27 (51-43) — while the Panthers have won 15 games by 20 or more points. 

Through its 23 games, Pioneer has outscored opponents 1,622-916. In average per game, that equates to 70.5 points for to 39.8 points allowed, an average margin of victory of 30 points. Those numbers only begin to tell the story of how dominant the Panthers have been this season. 

After not really being tested in the Western Mass. Class D tournament, Pioneer has cruised into the MIAA Div. 5 state quarterfinals. The Panthers opened the tournament with a 78-28 beatdown of 32nd-seeded Prospect Hill Academy before blowing out No. 17 Old Colony — which entered the Round of 16 game with a 19-2 record — by a score of 75-43. 

What’s next for a Pioneer team looking to capture the program’s first state championship since 1997? The Panthers will host No. 9 Ware (17-5) after it reached the quarterfinals thanks to a 50-40 victory over No. 24 Brighton and a 45-33 triumph over No. 8 Fenway. 

If Pioneer can get past Ware, it would square off with the winner of No. 4 Drury and No. 5 Boston English in the semifinals. The Panthers handled the Blue Devils twice during the regular season (76-45 and 53-36 wins) while Boston English was knocked off by Mahar in the Div. 5 quarterfinals last winter. 

The two teams that have stood out from the start as the top challengers in the Div. 5 field are on the other side of the bracket and happen to be facing off in the quarterfinals. Hopedale earned the No. 2 seed after an 18-3 regular season, its lone losses coming to Div. 4 David Prouty and Div. 3 Nipmuc twice. 

Like Pioneer, Hopedale has yet to be challenged in states with wins over No. 31 Hampden Charter (72-44) and No. 15 Monson (72-25) to reach the quarterfinals. 

Hopedale is squaring off against seventh-seeded New Mission, the defending Div. 5 champs. New Mission beat Pioneer in the Div. 5 semifinals last year and sports a 15-6 record heading into its quarterfinal game. 

New Mission ran past No. 39 Community Charter School of Cambridge (71-48) before pulling away in the second half to beat No. 10 Mahar (68-45) in the Round of 16. 

The winner of that quarterfinal contest will play the winner of No. 19 Rockport and No. 11 Westport, both teams coming off upset wins in the Round of 16 to reach the quarters. 

The tip between Pioneer and Ware is set for 6 p.m. on Friday at Messer Gymnasium. 

Greenfield, Mahar boys fall out in Round of 16

The two most entertaining basketball games I saw so far this season were both in the state tournament this past week. 

As you’d hope, the atmosphere for tournament games gets turned up a notch and that was certainly the case last week when the Senator boys hosted 23rd-seeded Boston United in the Round of 32. 

No gym in Franklin County gets close to as loud as the one in Orange during a big game, as the old ceiling and walls in the small gym seem to trap in every bit of noise. With Boston United bringing a large group of students on a fan bus, it was rocking from the opening tip on. 

The game lived up to the hype as well. Boston United was, in my opinion, under-seeded at No. 23 and kept it close throughout, going on a big run in the third to take the lead. Mahar did what it does best against teams that like to push the pace – it slowed the tempo and turned it into a game about executing in the half court, and that allowed the Sens to advance with a 58-47 victory. 

Mahar was unable to get past New Mission in the Round of 16, which closes out the basketball careers for seniors Morgan Softic, Jayden Delgado, Marshall Ames, Derek Collins and Luan Lopez-Baez, all of which were key cogs for years with Mahar. 

The atmosphere in Roxbury for the Greenfield boys basketball team’s Div. 4 Round of 16 contest against O’Bryant also gave the contest the big-game feel it deserved. 

The game also more than lived up to it. The Green Wave led at the half but O’Bryant clawed back and ended up forcing overtime. 

That’s when things got wild. The opening OT period saw freshman Grayson Thomas swished a 3 that gave the Green Wave a 56-55 lead before Lamar Pina responded with a basket on the other end. 

Greenfield senior Caleb Murray dribbled it up the court and drained a 3 that put the Wave back ahead, but just seconds later Pina hit a 3 of his own to answer again. Murray, with the hot hand, came up the court and hit a second 3, giving Greenfield a 62-60 lead, all those baskets coming in a one-minute stretch. 

The game went to a second overtime period and Greenfield, dealing with foul trouble, was unable to get things going offensively. The Wave ultimately bowed out with a 70-67 loss. 

Like Mahar, the Wave will have to replace players like Jon Breor, Murray and Caleb Thomas next year, all of which were huge pieces for Greenfield throughout their time in the program. 

Frontier girls fall in Round of 16

How good was the Frontier girls basketball team this winter? You just need to look at the only three teams that managed to beat them to find out. 

The Redhawks were 17-3 going into the Div. 4 state tournament. During the regular season Frontier lost just twice, both times to a Lenox team that is currently 22-1 and playing in the Div. 5 quarterfinals. The losses? One was by a score of 55-52 and the other 44-42, both games where the Redhawks had a shot at the buzzer to either tie or win. 

In the Western Mass. Class B tournament, the Redhawks reached the semifinals where they gave top-seeded Pittsfield all it could handle, ultimately falling 73-64. Pittsfield (22-1) is the No. 5 seed in the Div. 3 tournament and is playing its quarterfinal contest on Friday. 

After blowing past Manchester Essex in the Round of 32 (51-33), the Redhawks made the trip to Bourne to face the fourth-seeded Canalmen. Bourne entered with a 19-2 record and stormed back after trailing at the half to earn a 64-60 victory. 

Frontier outscored its opponents 1,272-705 (57.8 PPG-32 PPG) in one of the stronger seasons in program history. The Redhawks lose seniors Claire Kirkendall, Olivia Machon and Ashley Taylor next year but with a lineup that went deep in its bench, expect Frontier to be right back in the mix next year.