Girls basketball: Northampton routs Amherst in Pioneer Valley Tip-Off at the Mullins Center (PHOTOS)
Published: 12-13-2024 9:37 PM |
AMHERST — The Northampton girls basketball team overwhelmed Amherst Regional from the opening jump, using its length to force turnover after turnover in the full-court press.
By the end of the first quarter, the Blue Devils built a 24-4 lead, and come halftime, that advantage blossomed to 45-6. Northampton never looked back, and after a run into the MIAA Division 2 Final Four last season, that’s once again the goal for Perry Messer’s athletic squad this winter.
A 74-10 win over the Hurricanes on Friday night at the Mullins Center in the Pioneer Valley Tip-Off was a good start.
“We’re going to use our length, and we’re pretty athletic,” Messer said. “It’s all about getting better every day. We want to be playing our best basketball when we get into March. We always have a tough league, and we’ve made our schedule even tougher than it’s been in the past. There aren’t going to be any easy breaks.”
Bri Heafey led the way with 22 points, starting off her senior season in style. Heafey donned a heavy knee brace a year ago, but after playing pain-free throughout AAU, she ditched it this year. It’s allowed her to move more freely and quicker, she said, and it looked it on Friday.
Heafey drilled four triples en route to her game-high, Anna Oravec tossed in 14 points, Makayla Fydenkevez added nine of her own and Liv Joensen scored eight points for Northampton.
“Bri’s off the brace, and she shot the ball fairly well today,” Messer said. “She’s in good shape and is going to lead us this season. Our sophomores played well I thought, too. Liv, Anna, Makayla and Emme [Calkins], those four sophomores are going to be key for us.”
As for Amherst, the ‘Canes roster a handful of players that are completely new to basketball under first-year head coach Anthony Quinones. They have only three returners and lost one of their best players to Springfield International Charter School, so playing one of the better teams in Division 2 on a big court like the Mullins Center was a tall task for an inexperienced team.
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Yairelis Blanchard and Aaliyah Hall netted four points apiece to lead Amherst in scoring in the loss. Foul trouble to the Hurricanes’ top players hurt them early on, and they could never dig themselves out of the hole.
“Northampton is probably one of the best teams in the state, and we have a lot of people that have never played before,” Quinones said. “We had mostly guards. We have a young team with a lot that we have to work on. Our game plan kind of went out the door. I think it was just too much pressure. But we’re growing.”
An 8-0 Blue Devils run opened up the night, followed quickly by a 16-0 flurry to make it 24-2 in a blink. Northampton has played against its boys team during practices so far this season, as Messer invites them to come in and challenge his team.
He knows that if his players can hold their own against the boys varsity team, they’ll be able to play with most teams they face this year.
“We challenge the kids in practice, and one of the things I’ve been doing is getting the boys team to come in a couple days a week and go against our top seven just to push them,” Messer said. “That’s what we’ll do, just keep challenging them and trying to get them better. They like playing the game and they like playing for each other. They had a great run last year and they’re trying to continue that same thing.”
Despite the unfortunate outcome for Amherst, the ‘Canes were fortunate to experience playing on a Division 1 court in an arena that holds close to 10,000 people.
They might forget about the outcome of the game, but they won’t forget playing at UMass.
“It was awesome. I loved this and the girls did too,” Quinones said. “I wish they did it at the Cage, but it’s a great opportunity. They liked the big arena. Everybody stuck together still, the bench was fired up until the end, so that’s a plus. We just have to go back to the drawing board. One percent better every day.”
Amherst (0-1) travels to Taconic on Tuesday for its next contest, while Northampton (1-0) hosts Pittsfield on Monday at 7 p.m.