AMHERST — Meikkel Murray saved his best for last in the season opener for the Amherst Regional boys basketball team.
It began with an emphatic block that Murray pinned to the backboard. He followed the block with a gliding take to the rim with his left hand, which he finished with a foul.
After the free throw, it was a seven-point lead for Amherst over Northampton with under two minutes to play. The Hurricanes went on to beat the Blue Devils 71-55 at the Curry Hicks Cage on Friday night.
When Murray’s defense can lead to offense, it makes the Hurricanes that much more dangerous.
“It changes the game around,” Murray said. “It gets the crowd pumped. It helps our team to get back on defense.”
Murray finished the game with 30 points, 10 of which came in the fourth quarter for the Hurricanes.
Northampton, behind some precise 3-point shooting, was down 3 points with three minutes to play. But Amherst closed the game on a 16-3 run to close out the Blue Devils.
“I think Amherst certainly finished the game with a flourish you expect from a good team,” Northampton coach Rey Harp said. “But we are a team that can stand up to the competition. The lesson is we need to finish the game. They beat us down the stretch.”
Northampton hit nine 3-pointers in the game. Elijah Davis (19 points) and Andy Grygorcewicz (18 points) led the Blue Devils in scoring.
Grygorcewicz added seven rebounds and carried Northampton in the second quarter with 13 points, scoring at the line and from the outside.
“We didn’t know they were that kind of team,” Murray said. “But seeing them in the first half, we knew we had to close out.”
The Blue Devils went into halftime with a lead, but a cold third quarter sent Amherst into the fourth with a lead.
“We picked up the defensive intensity,” Amherst coach Jim Matuszko said.
Seth Bella-Hunter was a force protecting the rim for Amherst with six blocks.
Meikyle Murray and Will Budington both added 11 points for the Hurricanes. A Budington 3-pointer followed by a coast-to-coast lay up effectively put the game away for Amherst.
Turnovers hurt Northampton, the Blue Devils had 19 in the game.
Amherst 71, Northampton 55
Northampton (0-1)
Attias 1-0-3, Doherty, 0-1-1, Heafey, 1-0-2, Grygorcewicz 5-5-18, O’Connor 1-0-2, Wills 0-2-2, McCarthy 0-0-0, Davis 5-6-19, Thurston 2-0-6, Pion 0-0-0, Bredin 0-0-0, Corrada-Mattei 0-2-2. Totals: 19-13-55
Amherst (1-0)
Joyner 1-2-4, Budington 4-2-11, Meikell Murray 9-12-30, Meikyle Murray 4-2-11, Bella-Hunter 2-0-5, Rietkerk 0-0-0, Edwards, 1-2-3, Blanchard 1-0-2, Kelly 0-1-1, Perry 1-0-2.
|
Northampton |
15 |
18 |
9 |
13 |
—5 |
|
Amherst |
16 |
16 |
15 |
24 |
—71 |
3-Pointers—Northampton 9 (Davis 3, Grygorcewicz 3, Attias, Thurston 2); Amherst 3 (Meikyle Murray, Bella-Hunter, Budington)
