AMHERST — The style is very simple for the Easthampton boys basketball team.
Run, run and run some more, and swarm on defense.
The Eagles used their formula to pull away from Hampshire Regional in a 69-52 win Saturday at the Curry Hicks Cage on the second day of the Pioneer Valley Tip-Off.
Easthampton forced 15 turnovers against the Raiders. A major beneficiary of the turnovers was Zach Crisafulli, who got out in the open court time after time.
Crisafulli led Easthampton with 29 points and eight rebounds.
“It was fun to get back out there,” Crisafulli said. “This is just the start. Everyone contributed. We need to get better every day.”
Crisafulli and the Eagles had a long offseason after a loss in the sectional finals last year.
“I am trying to preach to the guys that it’s not who wins in December,” Crisafulli said. “It’s who wins in March. We can’t have our best game of the year be our first.”
Almost all of Crisafulli’s 14 field goals came at the rim, often utilizing the Euro step to evade defenders.
The rivals played a close game until the fourth quarter when the Eagles pulled away.
Ish Akanour, who showed an ability to penetrate and dish throughout, found Crisafulli under the hoop for a basket that gave Easthampton a 52-43 lead with 5 minutes left in the game.
Akanour had nine points and eight assists for the Eagles.
Jacob Bihler scored 13 points for Hampshire. Center Matt Babyak had 10 points and 10 rebounds.
The Eagles’ defense kept the Raiders’ offense uncomfortable for most of the game.
“I don’t think we handled the pressure very well,” Hampshire coach Claud Salomao said. “We allowed them to get in our heads. They play a certain style and kept us off balance.”
David Helems came off the bench to score nine points for Hampshire.
Some contributions came from Ronan Motter and Ant Moynihan, new players for the Eagles.
Mottor scored seven points in the third that allowed the Eagles to have a lead going into the fourth quarter.
Moynihan’s on-ball defense of Hampshire point guard Greg Laroche kept the Raiders out of what they wanted to do on offense.
“Tonight we saw what we could get from the new guys,” Easthampton coach Brian Miller said. “That was the biggest thing in a situation like this. The first game.”
Hopkins Academy 70, Palmer 57 — Sam’i Roe put the Golden Hawks on his back with 37 points in a win.
Jon Morrison (10 points) and John Earle (11 points) were both in double figures for Hopkins (2-0).
Amherst Regional 61, Pittsfield 44 — The Hurricanes pulled away from Pittsfield in the second half in the win at the Cage.
Meikkel Murray scored 19 points while Meikyle Murray added 10 points for Amherst (2-0).
South Hadley 60, Granby 50 — Calvin Bridges had 19 points and 12 rebounds for the Tigers (1-1) in the win over the Rams (0-1).
Nate Poirier scored 20, and Matt Grochowolski added 11 for South Hadley.
Zach Gorham led Granby with 21 points, while Noah Bleakley scored 14.
Hopkins Academy 70, Palmer 57
Palmer (0-1)
McCarthy 1-1-3, Niemczura 4-2-10, Bucknam 5-0-12, Remillard 1-0-3, Tenczar 4-0-8, Ladue 2-0-6, Cookish 6-2-15. Totals 23-5-57
Hopkins (2-0)
Ciaglo 3-0-9, Earle 4-2-11, Mihalick 1-0-3, Morrison 4-2-10, Roe 14-5-37. Totals 26-9-70
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By ADAM HARGRAVES |
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@Hargraves24 |
3-Pointers—Palmer 6 (Bucknam 2, Remillard, Ladue 2, Cookish); Hopkins 9 (Roe 4, Ciaglo 3, Earle, Mihalick)
Amherst 61, Pittsfield 44
Pittsfield (0-1)
Manns 1-0-2, Higuera 1-0-2, Matthews 1-0-2, Rodriguez 2-0-4, Terrick Boire 4-1-9, Frinks 5-0-10, Pedersen 2-3-7, Tyrell Boire 4-0-8. Total 20-4-44
Amherst (2-0)
Joyner 1-0-2, Budington 2-0-6, Rietkerk 3-2-8, Edwards 3-0-7, Meikyle Murray 5-0-10, Meikkel Murray 8-3-19, Bella-Hunter 2-3-7, Kelly 1-0-2 Totals 25-8-61
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Pittsfield |
10 |
13 |
6 |
15— |
44 |
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Amherst |
13 |
10 |
15 |
23— |
61 |
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3-Pointers—Palmer 4 (Remillard, Ladue 2, Cookish); Amherst 3 (Budington 2, Edwards)
Easthampton 69, Hampshire 52
Easthampton (1-0)
Crisafulli 14-1-29, Bara 1-3-6, Moynihan 2-0-6, Akanour 2-5-9, Motter 3-2-9, Palonis 1-0-3, Whitley 1-0-2, Jenkins 1-1-3, Brown 1-0-2 Totals 26-12-69
Hampshire (0-1)
Laroche 3-0-6, Bihler 5-2-13, Babyak 3-4-10, Sawyer 3-1-7, Bryant 1-0-2, Helems 2-4-9, Kocaman 1-1-3, Prvost 1-0-2. Totals 19-12-52
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Easthampton |
14 |
15 |
16 |
24— |
69 |
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Hampshire |
13 |
15 |
11 |
13— |
52 |
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3-Pointers—Easthampton 5 (Bara, Moynihan 2, Motter, Palonis); Hampshire 2 (Bihler, Helems)
South Hadley 60, Granby 50
South Hadley (1-1)
Grochowolski 5-1-11, Poirier 7-4-20, Bridges 5-9-19, Carey 4-1-9, Fernandes 0-1-1. Totals 21-16-60.
Granby (0-1)
Desormier 2-3-7, Gorham 8-2-21, Sosa 2-2-6, Bleakley 5-3-14, Bessette 1-0-2. Totals 18-10-50.
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South Hadley |
10 |
17 |
21 |
12— |
60 |
Granby 10 4 17 19— 52
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3-Pointers—South Hadley 2 (Poirier 2); Granby 4 (Gorham 3, Bleakley)
