EASTHAMPTON — The Easthampton girls basketball team has a complicated relationship with pressure.
The Eagles have been good at applying it to other teams this season, but have struggled at times when opposing teams put it on them.
Easthampton struggled at times to deal with the pressure applied by Smith Academy Thursday night, but a third quarter run, coupled with the Eagles’ ability to cause turnovers, pushed Easthampton past the Falcons, 42-34.
Easthampton’s Lauren Morse scored a game-high 14 points to lead the Eagles (2-0, 1-0 Franklin West). Emma Downer chipped in 12 points and Maria Belfakih scored 10 points and picked up 10 rebounds.
Karlie Guimond had 11 points for Smith Academy.
“Our defensive pressure is what turned the game around,” Easthampton coach Brian Miller said. “It got us a few easy baskets. Once you see the ball go through the hoop a few times you get a little bit more confident.
Guimond opened the scoring for Smith Academy (1-1, 0-1) in style. The senior guard pump faked in the corner to lose a defender, drove past two more defenders and scored with a layup.
Smith Academy’s Emma Kelly (eight points) made her presence felt early in the game by getting the ball in the paint and scoring inside. Whenever she got the ball, an extra Eagles defender came over to double her in the post.
“She creates a lot of problems for teams with her size, but she’s athletic too,” Miller said. “We knew that she’s a lefty and would try and turn left. We just tried to be physical and have a body leaning on her, push her higher and higher to the high post. If she got it in the low post we didn’t have a chance. … She’s someone everyone has to focus on.”
Both teams sat in a 2-3 zone defense for most of the game, but Easthampton’s was slightly different from Smith Academy’s.
Abbey Coleman played at the top of the zone and was tasked with tightly guarding the ballhandler at the point. Her defense on Falcons’ guards forced five turnovers.
“I thought Abbey did a great job,” Miller said. “I think our pressure was our strong suit tonight.”
Downer also played solid defense at the top of Easthampton’s zone. She finished with six steals.
Around midway through the second quarter, the Eagles strung together back-to-back possessions with quick, smart passing that found the open seams in Smith Academy’s defense and scored inside to go ahead, 11-7.
The Eagles found ways to get easy buckets in the first half in transition, but the Falcons started to get back on defense and deny Easthampton in the paint.
The message from Miller to his squad coming into the second half was to slow it down.
“Usually when they pressured us we freaked out,” Downer said. “(Coach Miller) had us slow it down. That is when we got open shots.”
The Eagles did get open shots in the third quarter, and converted.
Downer, Morse and Coleman each scored 3-pointers in the quarter to push Easthampton ahead. Downer’s 3-pointer with 3:54 to go in the period put the Eagles ahead, 25-18.
“If you make a few shots, that helps,” Miller said.
Smith Academy applied a full-court press during the fourth quarter. Easthampton was able to break the press, but once the Eagles got into a half-court situation, they rushed their offense and turned the ball over.
“It’s hard because I’m always saying to go,” Miller said. “It’s a learning curve, we’ll get there.”
Kelly and Guimond each scored five points to lead a small Smith Academy run late in the game, but a 3-pointer from Morse helped put the game out of reach.
“I don’t think our girls wanted it as bad as Easthampton did,” Smith Academy coach Allison Slysz said. “A little bit of it was a lack of hussle and communication. I feel like every person on my team wasn’t on the same page tonight. We really needed to swing the ball and have better ball movement to create more options for us on offense.”
The Eagles went 3-14 last season. It’s still early in the season, but the way the team has performed through two games is a sign of progress.
“I think they’re just excited to win some games,” Miller said. “Not just win games, but win close games and play well. … We are going over things, learning new things and executing. It’s exciting for me to watch and I think they feel good about where we are and where we could go.”