GREENFIELD — The intensity was high at Nichols Gymnasium on Thursday during the boys varsity quarterfinals of the DRIVE League.

Second-seeded Frontier opened the night by taking on seventh-seeded Easthampton and after building an early lead, pulled away to punch a ticket to the semifinals with a 69-56 victory.

For a Redhawk team that reached the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament a season ago, the summer has been about building off that and trying to gain momentum going into next season.

“It’s been great,” senior Max Millette said. “This is the best summer we’ve had in a while. We’re excited for December.”

Millette led the way with 30 points in the win, 19 coming in the first half. Alex Ellis finished with 10 points, Rowan Modestow tossed in nine points and Ty Skroski added eight points in the winning effort.

Frontier is bringing its entire team back from a season ago and is hoping their play in the summer — where they’ve lost one game so far in the DRIVE League — can be a springboard.

“We’re returning everybody from last year,” Millette said. “A bunch of us played together in the spring so we have a lot of chemistry going.”

The Redhawks will take on the winner of No. 3 Brattleboro and No. 6 Narragansett in the semifinals at Nichols Gymnasium on Monday.

The second quarterfinal game on Thursday came right down to the wire between No. 4 Athol and No. 5 Greenfield.

It was a back-and-forth game throughout but the Bears found themselves leading 57-50 with under a minute to play. Green Wave’s Grayson Thomas scored inside and following a turnover, knocked down a three to cut the lead to 57-55. Greenfield forced another turnover late and Thomas was fouled taking a 3 just as the final buzzer sounded, putting the sophomore at the line for three shots in a two point game.

Thomas didn’t flinch and sank all three to send Greenfield to the semifinals with a 58-57 victory.

“I love to be in those situations,” Thomas said. “I knew I was going to shoot it. I got fouled and chucked it up and knew I was going to hit those free throws.”

Thomas was the catalyst offensively for the Wave on Thursday, dropping 40 points in the win. Of those 40 points, 24 came in the first half. Gavin Arsenault added nine points while Xaviay Reynolds chipped in six points in the winning effort.

“I was feeling great out there,” Thomas said. “This summer has been great.”

Unlike Frontier, Greenfield will be a new look team next winter. The Wave graduated three key starters from a team that made a run in the MIAA Div. 4 Round of 16 but have used this summer to develop chemistry on the court.

They’ll hope to keep the run going when they face top-seeded Keene on Monday in the semifinals.

“We’ve been playing well as a team so far,” Thomas said. “We just have to keep it going. Keene on Monday is going to be a tough game but we just have to get through it.”

Karim Thompson put up 23 points, Dom St. Andre scored nine points while Ethan Goodwin and Oliver Johnson each added six points for Athol, who impressed on the court throughout the summer.

Northfield Summer Road Race

Ryan Spofford was the winner of the Northfield Summer Road Race on Thursday, finishing the 3.1 mile course in 18 minutes and 12 seconds.

Isaac Bingham (18:14) came in second, followed by Alex Scotera (20:39), Ben Emberley (20:43) and Dan O'Brien (21:13). Polly Prewitt (23:40) was the first woman to finish and came in seventh. Thirty-six runners and 10 walkers participated.

The race takes place every Thursday starting and finishing at 105 Main Street in Northfield. The cost is $5 per runner with $10 max per family. Local high school cross country team members run for free. Walkers are welcome and can choose a shorter distance. The race is a Northfield Recreation Commission event.

Golf

Thomas Women’s League

Robin Hartnett shot the low gross of 42 while Barb Bilz and Christine Graves tied for the low net of 27 in the Thomas Women’s League at Thomas Memorial on Wednesday.

Bilz won closest to the pin on No. 7 (five feet, nine inches).

Timmons-Messer

Bill Noyes and Brian Tietze shot the low gross of 34 in the Timmons-Messer League at Northfield Golf Club on Wednesday.

Andy Sena and Richard Drozdal took second (35). John Paresky and Curt White shot the low net of 23 after winning a match of cards over Dan Campbell and Harry Hyams.

Campbell won closest to the pin on No. 6 (6.5 inches) and Norm LaCoy won on No. 7 (4-9.5). Noyes was the medalist with a 34.