Girls basketball: Defense helps Northampton stay undefeated, rally past South Hadley 44-37 (PHOTOS)

NORTHAMPTON — South Hadley’s full-court press rattled Northampton during the first quarter on Friday night, leading to easy baskets in transition and an early 10-point advantage.

Everything seemed to be going the Tigers’ way — until Drew Alley picked up her second foul early in the second quarter.

The senior had 11 of her 15 points through the first frame and change, but had to be taken out due to foul trouble. That changed the complexion of the contest.

Northampton proceeded to go on a 12-0 run as soon as Alley sat down, and extended that to a 26-4 spurt into the second half as the Blue Devils defeated the Tigers 44-37 to remain undefeated (5-0).

Ava Azzaro led Northampton with 15 points, while Chloe Derby chipped in 12 points and Bri Heafey added seven.

“It hurt a little bit not having her on the floor, and I think we got frustrated with some of the foul calls, but we’re not making any excuses – [Northampton] outplayed us,” South Hadley head coach Paul Dubuc said. “They’re a good team, and they’re deep. They press, they run, and they play with discipline.”

During Northampton’s five wins, its defense has been lights out – no surprise for a Perry Messer-coached team. The Blue Devils have yet to give up more than 40 points in a game this year, Friday night included.

It looked like that streak would end when South Hadley led 13-6 after eight minutes, but Northampton stiffened up its press and made every point hard to come by for the Tigers.

“We’re gonna try and wear teams out, and I tell them all the time, ‘You wanna get on that floor, you gotta play defense. You don’t play defense, you’re sitting right next to me,’” Messer said. “The one thing is, we don’t make it easy for anybody. If you’re gonna score on us, you’re gonna earn it. And they’re a good team, they made it difficult on us.”

Despite trailing by as many as 13 points late in the third quarter due to the aforementioned 22-point swing, South Hadley refused to quit. The Tigers embarked on an 8-0 run spanning across the end of the quarter and the beginning of the fourth to get back within five at 36-31.

But Azzaro and company were eventually too much to overcome.

“They’ve been yelled at by me enough over the years so they know what they’re supposed to do,” Messer joked, alluding to Azzaro, Derby, and Heafey – his three leaders. “When they needed to, they stepped up and made plays for us tonight.”

South Hadley was paced by Alley’s 15 points, and also received strong performances from junior Maddie Soderbaum (seven points), and freshman Kate Phillips (six points). Dubuc only has one senior on his team this season, so he’s excited about the future of his talented young core.

“We’re gonna get better, I know we are. I’m playing a lot of young kids, but we’re looking forward to the challenge,” Dubuc said. “We’re not selling ourselves short, by any means, this year, but we’ve got a lot of young talent coming up.”

The Tigers (3-3) return to action on Thursday when they travel to the Berkshires for a matchup with Wahconah. Tip-off is scheduled for 7 p.m.

Northampton (5-0) hits the road on Wednesday for an out-of-region contest with Shepherd Hill for its first of four consecutive road games. That game will get underway at 6:30 p.m.