EASTHAMPTON — No Easthampton boys basketball team ever made it this far.
The Eagles won the Western Massachusetts championship for only the second time in school history Saturday. Now, they’re playing for the program’s first state title at 3:30 p.m. Saturday against Watertown in the Division 3 final.
“We’re making history,” Easthampton senior Sopie Pek said.
Easthampton won its only other sectional title in 2003, when the Eagles lost to Bromfield in the state semifinal. This year’s team kept going. Easthampton bested Sutton 75-72 on Wednesday to reach uncharted territory.
“This morning when we all came to school and it really set in,” Easthampton junior Ronan Mottor said. “ We were like ‘we’re playing for a state championship,’ We’re the first team to do that here.”
The Eagles (19-5) enter the game tested. They played Sutton in the regular season in addition to traveling to Nauset and Northampton. Those three games were part of a four-game early-season losing streak that shaped the rest of the way.
“The tough games in the beginning helped us figure out who we were,” Pek said. “Now look where we are.”
They’re on the doorstep of a state title, but they’ll need to beat Watertown (19-6). The Division 3 North champions, beat Burke in the state semifinals, Wednesday, after emerging from the North sectional as the No. 7 seed.
“They’re a good, defensive team, they want to play down in the 50s,” Easthampton coach Brian Miller said. “We want to get that score going. Hopefully we can impose that on them.”
Senior center John Korte commands defensive attention in the post. He stands at 6feet 6 inch and 230 pounds and can step outside to shoot 3-pointers capably.
“He’s going to be my responsibility, but I’m going to have help,” said Mottor, Easthampton’s tallest player at 6-4. “I really take that to heart.”
The Eagles will counter Watertown with speed and balance. They feature four players that score at least eight points per game, led by Ant Moynihan’s 20.8 and Sopie Pek’s 16.2.
Mottor and senior Darnel Whitley have both scored in double figures in the last two games.
“For the past two or three weeks they have been playing well above what we expected,” Miller said. “Everyone who’s out there, we have confidence in.”
The mood around Easthampton’s Thursday practice was excitement. The Eagles will shoot around at Springfield College Friday and attend a banquet in Springfield with a hotel stay mixed in.
With all of the hoopla, Miller is trying to maintain the team’s routine and a sense of normalcy. He still had the team shoot until it made 100 3s before practice could end.
“The next few days is going to be a lot,” Miller said.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.