The defending MIAA Division 1 state champion Springfield Central girls basketball team certainly looked the part on Thursday.

Visiting Holyoke saw that firsthand in the Western Massachusetts Class A semifinals.

The No. 4 Purple Knights fell behind 22-10 after eight minutes before Central outscored them 24-8 in the second quarter to take a 46-18 lead into the half. Holyoke was unable to get back in it in the second half, with the Golden Eagles advancing to Saturday's sectional title game on the strength of a 77-37 victory in Springfield. 

Bianca Ortiz led the way with 14 points for the Purple Knights (12-8). Amilyan Treadwell-Mercedes added nine points, Shyanne Hall scored five points and Victoria D'Amico finished with four points in the loss. 

Central limited Ashley Vazquez — a 1,000 point scorer at Holyoke — to just one point. 

Julia Bahati (18), Angela Hector (14), Heaven Morris (11), Sydney Dodds (10) and Jordis Tautalatasi (10) scored in double figures for the Golden Eagles (17-3).

Now Central will play No. 3 Amherst in the Class A championship game on Saturday at 6 p.m. at Westfield High School. The two teams haven’t played this season, and the Golden Eagles won the most recent matchup – a 59-37 victory in last year’s Class A semifinal round.

The Hurricanes (17-4), which defeated No. 7 Minnechaug in Wednesday’s semifinal contest, have won 12 games in a row, nine of those by double digits. Their last loss came on Jan. 10 at Hoosac Valley. Amherst last won a sectional title in 2011.

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