High School Basketball Notebook: Hampshire Regional girls shining under first-year coach

South Hadley's Jack Laughrey (12) attempts a layup during the high school basketball game against Northampton at South Hadley high school, Friday, Jan. 10, 2025, in South Hadley. STAFF PHOTO/DANIEL JACOBI II
Published: 01-15-2025 5:18 PM |
Some high school basketball teams have reached 10 of their 20-game schedule already, and now at about the midway point of the regular season, it’s safe to say there has been some high-level basketball across Hampshire County so far this winter.
In the second edition of our weekly high school basketball notebook, I discuss the key to the Holyoke boys basketball team’s 8-0 start, what has shaped the Hampshire Regional girls team’s (7-3 this season) turnaround after several below-average years and why South Hadley continues to win games (four straight). At the end of the notebook, I also highlight each team’s game-high scoring leader through Tuesday night’s games.
If you missed the first edition, you can read it by clicking this link. And if you have any tips for notebook items that should be featured, please email me at gcote@gazettenet.com.
Below is the second high school basketball notebook of the 2024-25 season:
First-year head coach Jay Plamondon took over the Raiders this winter, and he’s revamped them into a team that nobody in Hampshire County wants to play. Hampshire is feisty, and can score in bunches or slow things down and play in the half court. After three consecutive losing seasons, the Raiders are currently 7-3 and winners of six of their last seven contests.
“I have been blown away by how these young ladies have responded and gelled together,” Plamondon said. “I have five seniors and I am their fourth head coach. Crazy to think.”
For a senior class to go through a different head coach every season of their high school basketball career is almost unimaginable. But this group of seniors – Alyssa Colon-Garcia, Julianne Moro, Destiny Saltis, Katherine Simmons and Mary Thibault – has done that, and they’ve finally found consistency with Plamondon at the helm.
On Monday night, Hampshire went to Wahconah and knocked off the Warriors 38-32 behind its star sophomore duo of Shayne Moynihan (17 points) and Addie Miklasiewicz (11 points) – the Raiders’ two leading scorers this year.
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All signs are pointing to Hampshire’s first winning season on this side of the COVID pandemic, and its coaching staff is certainly optimistic about this group moving forward.
“[The win over Wahconah] could be the one that gets these ladies to believe,” Plamondon said.
Last winter, when the Purple Knights boys basketball team ended the regular season on a five-game winning streak, head coach Juan Maldonado described his program as a “guard factory.” Seemingly every year, Holyoke is loaded with guards that make winning plays time and time again. Last year that included Luis Figueroa and Shawn Rivera, and this year it includes Aden Cabrera and Calvin Godbolt.
Cabrera and Godbolt were the two leading scorers in Tuesday night’s win over Northampton, as Godbolt poured in a game-high 23 points while Cabrera added 16 of his own. Last season, Godbolt was at Springfield Central – where he scored in double figures in 11 games including a season-high 31 against, you guessed it, Holyoke. After transferring this season, it’s been a perfect match for both parties involved.
Godbolt has added to the depth of the Purple Knights’ backcourt while also connecting with those already on the team. It was Holyoke’s guard play that sent it to the Division 2 quarterfinals last season, and it’s the guard play again that has the Purple Knights as the 6th-ranked team in the latest MIAA power rankings at a perfect 8-0.
Holyoke plays Pope Francis in one of the biggest games of the year in all of western Massachusetts on Thursday night (7:30 p.m.) at Springfield College as part of the Hoophall Classic.
For the second time this year, the Tigers boys basketball team has won four straight games. They started the year off 4-0, and after dropping two games by a combined seven points, they’ve since won four more.
South Hadley (8-2) recently defeated Easthampton on Tuesday night, with Jack Loughrey once again at the top of the score sheet with 25 points. Following South Hadley’s recent 51-47 win over Northampton last Friday, Blue Devils head coach Rey Harp said it “was a treat” to watch Loughrey, who scored 24 points that night.
“I really don’t care about the stats,” Loughrey said. “I just want to do anything I can to help my team win. As long as we get the dub, that’s all that matters to me.”
When Loughrey scores 21 points or more, South Hadley is 6-0 this season. He’s certainly the key to the Tigers’ engine, but he isn’t the only one making plays. His brother Tim Loughrey is second on the team in scoring and is South Hadley’s glue guy – doing lots of the dirty work to earn the team extra possessions. Noah Hambley can score from all three levels and handles the ball for the Tigers while Isiah James is a knock-down lefty capable of letting it fly from anywhere.
Factor in South Hadley’s stingy defense, one that has given up more than 55 points just once this season, and it’s clear why the Tigers are in the mix for the Bi-County League title and are currently No. 6 in Division 4.
With the winter season about halfway through, let’s take a look at who has scored the most points in a game for each team this season as of Wednesday morning. Note: these numbers are based on what has been sent from coaches to the Gazette.
Boys
Amherst: Samuel Woodruff, 22 points
Belchertown: Brice Letendre, 37 points
Easthampton: Jasper Alvarez, 26 points
Frontier: Max Millette, 28 points
Gateway: Jesse Balboni, 26 points
Granby: NeNe Fernandez, 30 points
Hampshire: Vynce Carr, 27 points
Holyoke: Calvin Godbolt, 34 points
Hopkins: Chace Earle, 27 points
Northampton: Naihmond Peters-Wolfe, 32 points
PVCICS: Grafton Tolopko, 22 points
Smith Academy: Garrett Willard, 30 points
South Hadley: Jack Loughrey, 32 points
Smith Vocational: Dom Sanchez, 32 points
Girls
Amherst: N/A (stats not sent to Gazette)
Belchertown: Aubrey Klingensmith and Chloe LaRoche, 22 points
Easthampton: Samone Young, 19 points
Frontier: Addie Harrington, 21 points
Gateway: Grace Renauld, 14 points
Granby: Kalli White, 38 points
Hampshire: Addie Miklasiewicz, 26 points
Holyoke: Kiara Perez, 19 points
Hopkins: Olivia Earle and Maggie Potter, 12 points
Northampton: Bri Heafey, 30 points
PVCICS: Amirah Chabi-Yo, 12 points
Smith Academy: Alexa Jagodzinski, 24 points
South Hadley: Kate Phillips, 17 points
Smith Vocational: Makayla Tatro, 21 points