Girls basketball: Easthampton rallies past Granby 47-39 for first victory of the season (PHOTOS)
Published: 12-17-2024 9:40 PM |
GRANBY — After a strong close to the second quarter, the Granby girls basketball team went into halftime with a 25-22 advantage on its home floor. Despite leading scorer Kalli White bouncing in and out of the game due to injury, the Rams diversified their scoring to head to the locker room ahead.
But visiting Easthampton found another gear on the defensive end, holding Granby to just three third-quarter points as part of an eight-point swing in the frame. The Eagles never looked back, as they walked out of Granby with a 47-39 win on Tuesday night.
Easthampton picked up its first win of the 2024-25 season after dropping its opener to Frontier on Sunday.
“We got some good defensive pressure that caused some turnovers and got us a couple of easy baskets,” Eagles head coach Brian Miller said. “The defensive intensity, and getting back to the basics is what helped us. We weren’t doing a good job of playing help-side defense in the first half… We calmed down and relaxed offensively and didn’t turn the ball over as much, and that was good to see.”
In Miller’s half-dozen years on the sideline at Easthampton, the Eagles have always had a prolific scorer to lean on. Last year it was Kayley Downie, and the year before that it was Lauren Morse. But this winter, Easthampton is without that one player capable of going off for 20-plus on a consistent basis.
On Tuesday, the Eagles did it by committee. Christine Raymond poured in a game-high 16 points, Samone Young added 13 big points and Veronica Rapoza chipped in seven as six different Easthampton players scored in the win.
“That’s who we have to be now, because we don’t really have a prolific scorer,” Miller said. “And that’s not a bad thing, but now we have to figure out different ways to score. It’s going to have to be more of a collective effort, with three or four in double digits and a couple more girls chipping in here and there. It’s going to be more of a team effort.”
That team effort showed up in the fourth quarter, with four different players scoring, including seven points from Raymond. Granby’s Autumn Sicard hit a 3-pointer to cut the lead to six, and White continued to be a threat down low, but the Rams couldn’t get within striking distance late.
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With White, who scored 28 points in a loss to Lee to open the year, battling her injury, other Granby players had to step up. And they did, as Sicard knocked down four 3s (two in the first quarter), Kaitlyn Curran had eight points and Brenna Moreno tossed in six to go along with White’s nine points. Although Granby turned the ball over on a number of occasions in the third quarter, the Rams focused in offensively and created several good looks at the rim.
They just struggled to convert on their quality chances.
“The rest of the girls picked up the slack a lot, but it’s tough losing your leading scorer in the first quarter,” Granby head coach Dave Padavano said. “We missed a lot of shots. We had a lot of nice opportunities. The offense was working and we were getting the ball in the paint the whole second half. They just bounced out. It happens.”
Despite falling short in the second half, Granby built its halftime lead with several non-starters in the game. Molly Zumbruski, Meredith Bartosz and others provided a spark off the bench for the Rams, playing important minutes as White rested.
Padavano knows that getting others meaningful playing time early in the season is only going to increase their confidence as the year goes on.
“I played girls that haven’t played a lot of minutes for us, and especially at the end of the first half, they showed up big for us,” Padavano said. “We’re going to need that moving forward.”
After being away from home its first two games, Easthampton (1-1) plays in its home opener on Friday night (7 p.m.) against Ware. While the Eagles may not be playing their best basketball right now, Miller believes they have what it takes to be a competitor in the Franklin County League North as the season progresses.
“One thing I like about this team, is they play hard for each other and they’re a tight-knit unit,” Miller said. “Things are a little shaky in games right now, but it’s early. And the way they work hard, I know it’s going to come together toward the end of the year.”
Granby (0-2) hosts Athol on Thursday night. Padavano, a first-year head coach, said his team is still getting used to his coaching style. With a late start to the winter season, Granby hasn’t had much time for practice. He said the Rams have plenty of wins in them this season, and they’ll start to come soon.