Westfield’s Rebecca Stephens races the Berkshire East slopes. (Westfield News File Photo)
CHARLEMONT – The Westfield girls’ ski team secured another first-place finish in the North Division with its third straight successful run on the slopes of Berkshire East Thursday night.
Westfield’s Grace O’Connor and Rebecca Stephens placed second and third overall, respectively, behind only Agawam’s Jillian Scherpa (25.16). O’Connor finished in 25.55; Stephens in 25.72.
“Rebecca seems to edge out the pack in the slalom; Grace seems to do the same on the GS (Giant Slalom) side,” Westfield ski coach Monique Piotte said. “We get the best of both worlds … They’ve had three great nights together.”
Lauren O’Connor (19th, 28.31) was also instrumental in boosting the Bombers’ effort, as was Megan Cole (41st, 31.2).
Stephens and O’Connor have consistently propelled Westfield to the top of the standings thus far, while different skiers have emerged to fill the role in the third and fourth spots.
“That proves we have the depth that you need for a championship team,” coach Piotte explained.
St. Mary’s Chloe Lussier (9th) placed in the top 10 with a 27.3 second run, and Gateway’s Jessica Garriepy (14th) cracked the top 15 in 27.92. Southwick’s Margaret Drohen finished 20th (28.32).
In the boys’ race, Westfield’s Neil Sheehan placed fifth (35.16), St. Mary’s Matt Masciadrelli was seventh (35.78), and St. Mary’s Jack Masciadrelli (38.86) and Westfield’s Jacob Stephens (39.64) finished 13th and 16th, respectively. Nicholas Herman finished first for Gateway and 21st overall (41.18), and Gators’ Johnny Rooney was 23rd (41.94).
Notes: The storage area on the outside of the bus came unhinged during Westfield’s bus trip to Charlemont, littering the roadway with several skis. Some of the skis were damaged, but no accidents occurred as a result of the incident. The incident may have slowed down the Bombers’ arrival at the starting gate, but failed to stop them at the finish line.
BOYS’ HOOPS
Rams stave off PVC
Southwick 47, Pioneer Valley Christian 43
Southwick held off a furious fourth-quarter rally from Pioneer Valley Christian to improve to 4-4 Thursday night.
It was the first home game for PVC at their new gymnasium.
“The place was rocking and rolling,” Southwick coach Dylan Dubuc said. “They played much harder with much more passion than us. Truthfully, we got lucky to come out of there with a win.”
Matt Daley led Southwick with 12. Rams’ Nick Chambers finished with eight, Tim McGrath had seven, and Ryan LeClair and Billy Stram each had five.
GIRLS’ HOOPS
Westfield be’Deviled
Northampton 50, Westfield 10
Nothampton’s Lauraine Joensen scored a game-high 26 points, and the Blue Devils took advantage of a pair of 13-1 quarters (1st, 4th) to cruise at home.
Alexa Morin led Westfield (0-7) with six points.
Rams run out of steam
Greenfield 42, Southwick 35
Less than 24 hours after winning a double overtime thriller, Southwick fell to 7-2 with a tough home loss Thursday night.
“In the second half, (that double OT game) just caught up with us,” Rams’ coach Mike Gill said. “We just ran out of gas.”
