SPRINGFIELD – Watertown kept the Division 3 boys basketball state championship game in second gear.
Easthampton revved and red-lined, but the game’s transmission didn’t shift in their favor.
The Red Raiders held the Eagles to their second-lowest point total of the season and claimed the state championship 72-53.
“They were quick enough and strong enough to handle our pressure, so it didn’t affect them at all,” Easthampton coach Brian Miller said.
Watertown (20-6) They built a 5-0 lead, and the Eagles (19-6) never got closer.
Easthampton trailed 40-19 at halftime and struggled to contain Watertown’s top options: guard Julio Fulcar and center John Korte. Fulcar scored a game-high 23 points.
“His first step got us every time,” Easthampton senior Sopie Pek said.
Korte was Easthampton’s focus entering the game. Watertown’ 6-foot-6 center established himself early and attacked the Eagles’ defense inside and out. He made two 3s in the game and finished with 22 points.
“Ronan (Mottor) had his hands full,” Miller said of his junior center.
Neither team made a substitution until Watertown inserted reserve forward Robert Danielian with 14.3 seconds until halftime.
Easthampton rushed out of the halftime break on a 7-1 run when Zade Jenkins (11 points) finished a layup through contact to make it 41-26.
“We always thought we could come back,” Easthampton senior Ant Moynihan said. “We wanted to keep playing, hopefully we’d break it open at some point.”
Watertown responded with an 8-3 run to push its lead back out to 49-29 with 3:32 left in the third quarter.
“We’re a really good team when we play from the lead,” Fulcar said. “Once we have it, we won’t let them take it away from us.”
Easthampton pulled as close as 13 in the fourth quarter when Moynihan, who scored 15 points to lead the Eagles, made a layup to cut Watertown’s lead to 58-45.
Watertown’s Yoseph Hamad grabbed four offensive boards after the Raiders missed free throws in the final five minutes that put the game away.
“Those are just back breakers,” Moynihan said.
Darnel Whitley scored 14 points for Easthampton, while Pek added 11.
Miller pulled his senior starters off the floor with 59.1 seconds left. He shared a group hug with them before they sat on the bench.
“They’ve accomplished a lot. No one in Easthampton has ever gotten this far,” Miller said. “This one game doesn’t really define who we are.”
The loss ended the careers of Easthampton’s six seniors: Moynihan, Pek, Darnel Whitley, Zade Jenkins, Nick Maldonaldo and Max Coleman. They led Easthampton to its first-ever state championship game and won the program’s second Western Massachusetts championship.
“We left our mark, and I’m proud,” Pek said.
Watertown 72, Easthampton 53
Watertown (20-6)
Fulcar 10-2-23, Rodriguez 5-1-11, Hamad 4-2-12, Spinelli 2-0-4, Korte 8-4-22. Totals 29-9-72
Easthampton (19-6)
Pek 5-1-11, Coleman 0-0-0, Mottor 0-1-1, Caires 0-0-0, Whitley 7-0-14, Moynihan 6-3-15, Jenkins 4-2-11, Diluzio 0-0-0, Soucy 0-0-0, Bacis 0-0-0, Brown 0-0-0, Colenback 0-1-1, Maldonado 0-0-0. Totals 22-7-53
|
Watertown |
18 |
22 |
19 |
16 |
—72 |
|
Easthampton |
10 |
9 |
19 |
15 |
—53 |
3-Pointers—Watertown 5 (Fulcar, Hamad 2, Korte 2), Easthampton 1 (Jenkins)