SPRINGFIELD — The pace favored the Northampton girls basketball team early.

Central unleashed its vaunted press but couldn’t push the Blue Devils out of their comfort zone.

“You definitely have to keep your cool,” Northampton senior Lauraine Joensen said.

Northampton kept its cool until the second half when the Golden Eagles stepped on the accelerator.

They led by 14 at halftime and stretched that advantage to 18 after three quarters in a 62-39 win Monday.

Central coach Erik Maurer called a timeout after Northampton’s Megan McCarthy pulled the Blue Devils within 10 with a pair of free throws 1 minute, 16 seconds into the second half.

“I thought Northampton was doing a better job with the pace of the game than we were. We had to speed it up a little bit,” he said. “Our girls picked up their intensity a little bit, and that led to some easier baskets for us.”

Central (11-3, 3-0 Valley) scored the next eight points to lead 45-27 with 1:18 left in the third quarter.

The Golden Eagles led by as many as 25 points, hitting that mark on a Phyness Baldwin layup with 39 seconds remaining.

Other than the 8-0 third-quarter run, though, Central never sprinted away from Northampton (10-3, 0-1 Valley).

It built the lead slowly, and Northampton had its opportunities to rein the Golden Eagles in.

The Blue Devils missed the front end of three one-and-one free-throw attempts. They were in the bonus for the game’s final 7:33 and shot free throws after every foul. Northampton went 17-of-28 from the free-throw line.

“You gotta convert. You gotta make sure you’re scoring points against them,” Northampton coach Perry Messer said. “We missed some shots that we’ve gotta be able to make. We should have hit a few more free throws.”

Northampton struggled to leverage its size advantage. McCarthy scored 11 points and Joensen had 19, but 16 of their combined 30 came from the free-throw line.

“We’ve got to be able to get the ball to them in the right spots, and they’ve got to convert on those plays,” Messer said. “I thought Lauraine could have done a better job for us of demanding the ball. You’ve got to want it.”

Northampton held Central to its season-low scoring output against western Massachusetts competition. The Blue Devils understood that Monday’s game provided a valuable learning experience.

They’ll face the Golden Hawks in Northampton on Feb. 15 and would like the series to be a trilogy in the postseason.

“We decided that we have to practice the way that we play. Be stronger, be faster, have the same tempo so that we’re ready to take the next step,” Joensen said.

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.