H.S. basketball: Blue Devils overcome halftime deficit to beat Tigers by 22 points

SOUTH HADLEY — After facing an eight-point deficit at halftime, the Northampton boys basketball team battled back to take home a 65-43 victory against South Hadley on Friday night.

Eli Reid led the way for the Blue Devils, scoring 26 points on the night, while facilitating the offense and playing stout defense on the inside. The junior attacked the glass on both ends as well, putting together an all-around impressive performance.

“[Reid] does a lot for us,” Northampton head coach Reynaud Harp said. “I know that as he gets more and more comfortable out there, he’s just getting better and better.”

With his scoring success, Reid drew a ton of attention from the Tigers defensively, helping his teammates get open looks all night long. Whether it was making the pass himself, or setting a screen to free up shooters, the rest of the Blue Devils thrived around their big man.

“I think that was just really a team game,” Reid said. “I mean, obviously, the ball got to me; I made a couple shots, but that’s a team game.”

Northampton really struggled throughout the first half of the game, while South Hadley built a lead. Noah Hambley caught fire at the end of the second quarter, hitting difficult shot after difficult shot, en route to a 22-point night for the Tigers.

The junior scored 18 of his points in the opening half, struggling to find the same rhythm after halftime. South Hadley tallied just 12 points as a team throughout the final two quarters.

On the other side, the Blue Devils nearly outscored their opponent’s total points in just the second half. The team recorded 42 points across the third and fourth quarters, taking the momentum quickly after the half and running away with it.

“We knew who we were, we knew shots weren’t falling,” Reid said. “Coach came in and just made a couple of adjustments on defense. We switched into a zone at the end of the half. That really worked, but really just upped the intensity. We’re slow in the first half, and we upped it.”

Looking to come back into the game, the Tigers also attempted to up their intensity, especially on defense. With a relentless full-court press, the team tried to make things difficult and force as many turnovers as possible.

When the press first began, Northampton was slow to adjust. As time went on, the Blue Devils used the aggression from their opponents to their advantage, beating the press and finding quick, easy shots on the offensive end.

“You’ve got to get punched in the face a little bit in order to really become what you need to become,” Harp said. “Thankfully, this group is strong enough to be able to struggle and figure their way out. I mean, I give them a lot of credit for that.”

Brayden Nichols-Staples served as the main ball-handler for Northampton, working through the pressure and scoring 19 points of his own on Friday.

South Hadley’s leading scorer over the last two games, Tim Loughrey, suffered an injury early in the second quarter, losing his footing and tweaking his ankle. Despite coming back into the game, the junior’s same explosiveness that allowed him to score 29 points in each of the Tigers’ previous games was limited. He finished his night with nine points.

The victory for the Blue Devils (2-1) is their second in a row, hoping to continue the streak when they travel to Minnechaug on Monday, December 22. Tipoff is set for 6:30 p.m.

South Hadley (2-2) will look to bounce back at home against Belchertown on Monday, December 22, at 7 p.m.

“When the schedules came out, [the Tigers were] one of the teams that I thought was particularly dangerous, having that level of upper-flight talent, that level of experience and [being] battle-tested,” Harp said. “They beat us last year. It’s a really good team, so it’s really nice to come in here and get a win, so early in the season, when we’re trying to find out what we look like.”