The Northampton girls basketball team defeated West Springfield, 51-34, to qualify for the postseason, Monday at Northampton High School.
Emily Sledzieski scored a game-high 21 points to lead the Blue Devils (10-5, 2-3 Valley). Caroline Tanner chipped in 11 points.
Northampton opened the game on a 10-0 run by scoring points off of West Springfield turnovers. The Blue Devils used a full-court press to force the Terriers to attempt difficult passes.
Northampton outscored West Springfield, 15-4, in the first quarter.
“Our defense was very good in the first half,” Northampton coach Perry Messer said. “I think we limited (West Springfield) to the shots we wanted to.”
The Blue Devils carried their defensive energy into the second quarter and went into halftime ahead, 32-13.
Sledzieski scored 14 points in the first half.
West Springfield took advantage of missed Northampton opportunities and got out in transition in the third quarter.
“In the third quarter, we have to shoot the ball a little bit better from the outside,” Messer said. “They were just zoning up on us. We had the right looks, you just have to knock them down.”
The Terriers outscored Northampton, 21-17, in the second half, but the Blue Devils’ strong start carried the team to victory.
Now that the team has qualified for the postseason, the back-to-back reigning sectional champions are focused on improving its overall conditioning and ironing out details on offense.
“We have to be able to sustain everything for 32 minutes,” Messer said. “We have good intensity for times, but we get a little tired and I think we get a little flat-footed. We are working hard. We just have to keep grinding. Right now our skill level is getting better. We are seeing the looks. We might not be completing them, but we are seeing where the ball needs to go. Now we just have to fine-tune that stuff and get better on the offensive end.”
McCann Tech 52, Easthampton 37 —Lauren Morse scored 11 points for the Eagles (8-7, 2-2 Franklin West). Nessrine Bentley chipped in nine points.
McCann outscored Easthampton, 17-2, in the first quarter.
“We got off to a slow start,” Easthampton coach Brian Miller said. “We didn’t have any energy from the beginning. It took us, unfortunately, until the fourth quarter to get going.”
Frontier Regional 60, Mount Everett 25 — Amelia Sobieski scored 20 points to lead the Red Hawks (11-4). Kaitlyn Mackin chipped in 12 points.
Saint Mary 33, Gateway Regional 31 —Peyton Bucko scored a game-high 17 points for the Gators (7-8, 4-2 Tri-County South). Hannah Duggan and Grace VanBuren each chipped in six points.
Girls basketball
Northampton 51,
West Springfield 34
Northampton (10-5, 2-3 Valley)
Sledzieski 6-5-21, McGrath 2-2-6, Mieczkowski 4-0-8, Allen 0-2-2, Denhart 0-2-2, Tanner 5-1-11, Dubuque 0-0-0. Totals 17-8-51
West Springfield (3-13, 0-5 Valley)
Bolduc 1-0-2, Bailey 3-0-6, Armstrong 1-1-3, Valentini 2-3-7, Mazimpaka 3-0-6, Peabody 2-0-4, Kelly 1-0-2, Phillips 2-0-4. Totals 15-4-34
|
Northampton |
15 |
18 |
8 |
10 |
—51 |
|
West Springfied |
4 |
9 |
10 |
11 |
—34 |
3-Pointers—Northampton 4 (Sledzieski 4)
McCann Tech 52,
Easthampton 37
McCann Tech (6-8, 3-1 Franklin West)
Lesure 2-0-5, LaCasse 5-1-12, Towler 2-4-10, Dean 1-0-2, M. Tatro 3-1-7, K. Tatro 5-1-13, Vincent 1-1-3. Totals 19-8-52
Easthampton (8-7, 2-2 Franklin West)
Roy 0-3-3, E. Downer 1-2-4, Bentley 4-0-9, Cloutier 2-0-4, Morse 4-3-11, Coleman 0-3-3, G. Downer 0-1-1, Wolcott 0-2-2. Totals 11-12-37
|
Easthampton |
7 |
9 |
9 |
12 |
—37 |
|
McCann Tech |
17 |
13 |
18 |
4 |
—52 |
3-Pointers—McCann Tech 4 (Towler 2, LaCasse, Lesure), Easthampton 1 (Bentley)
Frontier Regional 60,
Mount Everett 25
Frontier (11-4)
Warren 1-0-2, Self 3-2-8, Mackin 4-4-12, Sobieski 7-6-20, Laford 2-0-4, Bridwell 3-0-6, Diemand 3-0-6, Howard 1-0-2. Total 24-12-60
Mount Everett (1-12)
Von Ruden 1-0-3, Sarnacki 1-0-2, Steuernagle 4-0-10, Goewey 3-4-10. Totals 9-4-25
|
Frontier |
13 |
20 |
16 |
11 |
—60 |
|
Mount Everett |
10 |
3 |
5 |
7 |
—25 |
3-Pointers—Mount Everett 3 (Von Ruden, Steuernagle 2)