MIAA basketball: Northampton girls dismantle Dracut, 69-33, advance to D2 Round of 16

NORTHAMPTON — The No. 13 Northampton girls basketball team dominated No. 20 Dracut in a 69-33 victory in the Round of 32 of the MIAA Division 2 tournament on Thursday night.

Right out of the gate, the Blue Devils found success on both ends of the floor. Finding their groove on the inside, the team was nearly unstoppable offensively. Even when shots missed, Northampton crashed the offensive glass hard to get second-chance opportunities.

Offensive rebounds came consistently throughout all four quarters for the Blue Devils, who were efficient when putting misses back up from under the rim. The paint dominance continued on the defensive end, with great rim protection forcing the Middies to stick to the perimeter.

“You’ve got to be wanting to do the dirty work and do the blue collar work,” Northampton head coach Perry Messer said. “And when you do that, if you’re going to control the glass at both ends of the floor, you’re going to be pretty successful.”

Anna Oravec, Liv Joensen and Makayla Fydenkevez excelled on the inside all night long, attacking each shot attempt and loose rebound like their lives depended on it. With the interior controlled, Northampton was able to control the pace of the game, while also opening up looks from behind the 3-point line.

With the early success, the Blue Devils strung together a huge 22-3 lead to open the game, capped at 22-6 at the end of the first quarter. Holding all of the momentum, Northampton shifted its focus to maintaining the lead and preventing any runs from Dracut.

Oravec led her squad with six points in the first quarter, leading the team in rebounds as well. The junior finished the night with 21 points on eight made shots, easily eclipsing a double-double in rebounds as well.

“[Oravec] has really been setting the tone for us,” Messer said. “I’ll bet anything she had 21 and 20 with how she rebounds and scores. [When] we’ve beaten some good teams this year, that’s been the way it’s gone for us… She’s a good athlete. She’s got good length, and she can get up in the air, too.”

The Middies didn’t go down without a fight, finding a streak of offensive production in the second quarter. After just six points in the first, they tallied 15 over the next eight minutes. The Blue Devils matched their opponent’s scoring output, maintaining a 36-21 lead at halftime by sticking to the gameplan.

A big part of Northampton’s gameplan surrounded the play of Emme Calkins, who consistently hit tough, long-range shots throughout the night. The junior finished Thursday with 22 points in the win, serving as the team’s offensive engine.

“My coaches told me to keep attacking,” Calkins said. “[Dracut was] playing tough defense, so just being patient, but then also knowing when to take it to the hoop, when to take my shot, was the focal point.”

Despite an impressive, near-full court heave falling at the end of the third quarter for Dracut, the 55-28 lead that the Blue Devils had built to that point was a comfortable cushion that allowed them to easily close the final quarter out.

“I feel like all season, we’ve just been working on our defense, just really focusing on that, and really executing,” Oravec said. “Shutting other teams down, making sure we box out, get those defensive rebounds, and just taking their shots away.”

With the win, Northampton moves on to the Round of 16, set to take on the winner between No. 4 Foxboro/No. 29 Westwood, who play on Friday night.

“No matter who it is, you go in there, play between the lines in this 32-minute game, and you’ve got to be the team that wants it the most,” Messer said. “Seeds don’t mean anything. They tell you who you play, and when you play. Other than that, you’ve got to earn it on the court.”

Division 4

No. 3 South Hadley 61, No. 30 Mount Greylock 41 — The Tigers are off to the Round of 16 after taking down the Mounties at home on Thursday.

Cara Dean (18 points) and Kate Phillips (17 points) were South Hadley’s top two contributors, which will host the winner of No. 14 West Bridgewater/No. 19 Mashpee next week.

Boys basketball

Division 4

No. 30 Carver 66, No. 35 Easthampton 59 — The Eagles were clipped on the road in the preliminary round defeat.

Easthampton concluded the season with a 14-7 record.

No. 26 Amesbury 77, No. 39 Hampshire 57 — The Raiders saw their season come to a close in their preliminary round defeat.

Hampshire finished 12-9 overall.

Hockey

Division 3

No. 1 Hanover 5, No. 33 Easthampton 0 — It was a tough draw going up against the top seed in Division 3 less than 24 hours after a preliminary-round win in overtime for the Eagles, but nonetheless, the Hawks shut out Easthampton in the Round of 32.

The Eagles’ final record came out 10-11.