CHICOPEE — Trailing by 12 points after three quarters of play, with struggles scoring and stopping second-seeded Chicopee’s Alana Smith, No. 3 Holyoke could have thrown in the towel in the girls’ basketball Western Mass. Class A semifinal.
Yet, Bianca Ortiz and the rest of the Purple Knights were determined to diminish the Pacers’ lead with every Holyoke basket.
The final quarter began with an Asha Zayas basket to make it 46-36, and after that, the fourth quarter seemingly belonged to Ortiz. Using clean ball-handling, disciplined driving capabilities, and a polished jump shot, she rattled off 13 of the team’s next 15 points while Chicopee only garnered six points.
“I think offensively [Ortiz] really got us going,” said Holyoke head coach Andrea Enright.
There were 15 seconds left when the Pacers were at the foul line for a 1-and-1 while holding just a 52-51 lead. Chicopee’s foul shot rolled off the rim and into Holyoke’s possession. The ball was naturally given to Ortiz, who had 24 points leading up to the final seconds. As she drove toward the hoop, she was fouled, but on the floor, and that was only Holyoke’s fifth foul against them in the half.
With seven seconds remaining, on an inbound play, the ball was delivered to Ashley Vazquez, who was fouled on the floor abruptly.
With two seconds left in the second half and an advancement in the Class A Western Mass. tournament at stake, the adrenaline built. The Pacers’ half of the gym stomped the bleachers underneath them while Knights supporters hoped and prayed for the ball to reach the bottom of the net within two seconds.
However, there was no final shot, as Holyoke’s inbound pass bounced off one of their players and went out of bounds. With one second left, Chicopee successfully inbounded the ball to secure their spot in the Class A Western Mass. final via the 52-51 win.
The loss came with clear devastation for the Knights, but also encouragement.
“I think it would have been easy to just pack it in and feel like the game was over,” said Enright. “And they just refused to give up. I think they showed a lot of heart. Unfortunately, we fell one point short, but I was very proud of them.”
The Pacers held their 12-point lead heading into the final quarter largely because of their play under the hoop. Smith had 24 points on the night, which included 22 in the first three quarters and 16 in the opening half. Many of Smith’s opportunities came from her own offensive rebounds. Julia Robak, another Chicopee forward, also made an impact with 10 points off the bench.
The Pacers significantly separated themselves in the first half via a 10-0 run to extend their lead to 33-18. Six of the 10 points in that dominant span were scored by Smith.
Holyoke’s quest for the Class A Western Mass. title came to a close on Wednesday night, but they still have a state tournament to prepare for.
“I think we need to watch this film, and look at what went well and what we need to fix,” said Enright.
Chicopee will meet top-seeded Central for the Class A title on Saturday.