SPRINGFIELD — Many players from Western Mass. had the opportunity to play their final games at the high school level on Friday night at the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield for the 2022 Western Massachusetts Senior All-Star Games.
The standouts selected to play in these games not only took this as an opportunity to take in the atmosphere of the Hoophall, but also had good experiences getting their last encounter with some of their teammates, and for some, their coaches.
Granby’s Brandon Wishart and Nate Breault were selected to play in the Boys Class C and D All Star Game and played on the CD White squad coached by Ram coach Dylan Dubuc.
“It meant the world,” said Breault regarding playing with his teammates. “Me and Brandon [Wishart] grew up playing ball together. In basketball, we were inseparable. If he was on a team, I was also on the team. It was always a close bond with him.”
The combination of continuing the basketball bond with Breault and also sharing the experience with the high school coach he went to the Elite Eight with was something Wishart cherished.
“It was awesome that me and Nate [Breault] were playing, Dubuc was coaching,” said Wishart. “It couldn’t have ended better.”
The All Star Game was the antithesis of the intensity of playoff basketball, which was something a large portion of the players were involved in a short time ago. For Wishart and Breault, it was a time for them to experience an extremely light-hearted side of their head coach.
“He’s a goofball. I love that guy,” said Wishart. “He was great for our team this year — great for the All-Star Game — keeps things light, loves to joke around.”
The game was also an opportunity for everyone to play extremely loose and do whatever they desired to do without consequences.
“I could shoot from the logo and no one’s going to care,” said Wishart. “It’s a nice way to wrap up our careers.”
Joining the Granby duo for the first game of the night were Andrew Ciaglo and Colin Earle from Hopkins Academy, who each showcased exactly why they were selected to the prestigious squad on Friday night.
The second game of the night featured the best Western Mass. senior girls, with Amherst’s Delaney MacPhetres named game MVP following a 16-point performance.
“It’s an incredible feeling,” MacPhetres said. “Playing with all the best players I’ve played against the last four years is really cool. It was great coming out with the win and the MVP.”
The All Star game was an opportunity for MacPhetres to showcase herself with the best in Western Mass. It also was an opportunity to played a more laid back style of basketball.
“It was cool playing against people I’ve played against so much,” MacPhetres said. “We went out and played. We didn’t have plays so it was cool to just go out and play.”
While the opening boys game had the typical feel of an All-Star contest, the girls game had much more intensity. Both teams played strong defense throughout, not allowing any easy looks at the rim.
“We didn’t talk about it,” MacPhetres said of playing defense. “It’s just how we played. Maybe it shows something about Western Mass.”
Holyoke’s Yamaya Perez and Kleriz Matos, Frontier’s Kaitlyn Mackin, Belchertown’s Avery Klingensmith and South Hadley’s Olivia Marion also competed on Friday.
The final game of the night was the Boys Class A and B All Star game. Zayd Sadiq, Evan Stewart and Isa Castro-McCauley competed for Amherst, Jael Cabrera competed for Holyoke while Northampton’s Jacob Cancel, South Hadley’s Liam Quinn and Belchertown’s Nate Sajdak also played in the game.