AMHERST — Zayd Sadiq stopped playing guard for a set and switched back to defensive back.
East Longmeadow threw a pass from the post back out to the perimeter early in the fourth quarter on Monday.
Sadiq, an Amherst senior and defensive back for the Hurricanes football team, tracked it perfectly, sealed the Spartans offensive player with his body and grabbed the ball at its highest point to turn him into a defensive player. Then he raced up the court for an easy layup just like a pick six to tie the Western Massachusets Class A boys basketball quarterfinals.
“I tracked that down, went up and got it,” Sadiq said.
It was the first of four baskets he hit in the fourth quarter, scoring 10 of his team-high 15 points in the final frame to lead the No. 2 seeded Hurricanes to a 51-46 victory over the No. 7 Spartans. They’ll face either No. 3 Pope Francis or No. 6 Longmeadow in the semifinals Wednesday.
Sadiq missed his first six shots then took over the fourth quarter. He hit back to back 3s that gave Amherst (15-4) a 39-38 lead with 6 minutes, 52 seconds left and put the Hurricanes up 42-38 at 5:55.
“I just saw the time on the clock and was like ‘we need to score now,’” Sadiq said. “Guess I took over from there.”
He also had two blocks in the fourth quarter and dropped in a layup off a spin move to put Amherst ahead 48-44 with 2:22 remaining.
“It shows the competitor he is. I love having guys who are dual-sports athletes,” Amherst coach Jamahl Jackson said. “I know he has a resiliency and a toughness to him and no quit in him.”
The Hurricanes, back in the playoffs for the first time since 2018, showed that same resilience. East Longmeadow (11-8) built an 18-6 lead early with a 10-2 run. Sam Kalman broke the run for Amherst with a layup as the first quarter buzzer sounded.
“They were prepared for this game. They were confident and had nothing to lose,” Jackson said. “We’re the ones with the pressure on us being the No. 2 seed having to protect home court and they played that way. They were locked in, sticking to their game plan, care free.”
The Hurricanes scored the first nine points of the second quarter to tighten the game, part of an 11-0 run. They didn’t take the lead until Nolan Klaes stuck a jumper with 5:44 to halftime off of an Isa Castro-McCauley steal.
Not much separated the teams for the rest of the game. After Sadiq’s 3 gave Amherst the lead for good at 39-38, the Hurricanes gutted out offensive rebounds and made extra passes to stay ahead. Senior Keidy Cardoso, who missed two seasons of basketball with injuries, put back two offensive rebounds in the fourth quarter.
Klaes made a layup with 25.2 seconds left as Amherst held a slim 48-46 lead to help ice the game. Castro-McCauley sank a free throw with just 16.2 seconds on the clock to put it away for good.
“We did it together. That’s how we’re going to do it next game, too,” Jackson said. “That’s the beauty of this team.”
It was the first playoff game for every member of the Hurricanes. There hasn’t been a Western Mass tournament since 2020, and Amherst didn’t qualify for that one.
“We all knew, at least I knew, the first game was going to be the toughest game, I mean relatively speaking,” Jackson said. “I’m proud of them, and this means the world to me and to our program.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.