Blue Devils deal tough blow to 'Canes

The Northampton boys basketball team avenged an earlier loss to Amherst Regional and finish their regular season on a high note Monday night, while the Hurricanes were left still needing a win to qualify for the Western Massachusetts Division 1 Tournament.

The Blue Devils pulled away for a 67-54 win in Amherst.

After a tight first half, Jesse Coulon came to life scoring 13 of his 15 points in the second half for Northampton (16-4, 2-2 Suburban). Ellis Cooper had a double-double for the Blue Devils with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Jake Laga led all scorers with 16 points.

The Hurricanes (9-9, 3-3 Suburban) need to win one of its final two games to clinch a postseason berth. They host Westfield at 7 p.m. Wednesday and travel to East Longmeadow on Thursday. Amherst defeated the Bombers 71-64 on Feb. 1 and lost to the Spartans 87-67 on Jan. 25.

Ben Brassord led the Hurricanes with 11 points while Will Hird and Charles White each scored 10.

Belchertown 80, Granby 60 - Pat Gooden scored 25 points as the Orioles (15-5, 6-2 Bi-County North) wrapped up their regular season with their 10th straight win.

Dan Johnson added 16 points and six rebounds for Belchertown, while Dylan Bachand finished with nine points and five assists.

Clinton Sapowsky led the Rams (7-12, 2-6) with 20 points and eight rebounds, and Andy Gifford added 11 points.

Pioneer Regional 73, Easthampton 62 - Casey White scored a game-high 19 points but it was not enough for the Eagles (16-5, 14-4) who lost at home.

Matt Gilbert added 13 points for Easthampton, Thomas Lucia finished with 10 and John Volpe had nine points and nine rebounds.

Easthampton played without 1,000-point scorer Brendan Rios (ankle), but coach Brian Miller said he should be back for the postseason.

Sabis 70, South Hadley 46 - Despite 10 points by Kyle Callahan, the Bulldogs extended their edge after each of the first three quarters to pull away in South Hadley.

The Tigers fell to 6-13 (3-5 Central).

St. Mary 71, Smith Vocational 65 - The Vikings (1-18, 1-14 Tri-County) scored 26 points in the fourth quarter but could not complete the comeback as they closed their season in Northampton.

Andy Blair led Smith Vocational with 15 points, and Kieffer Staples and Scott Matusiewicz added 11 points each.

The loss marked the final game for Viking seniors Adam Tanguay, Devon Showell, Ray Phelps, Blair and Matusiewicz.

Frontier Regional 68, Athol 36 - Matt Chamberlin had 13 points and six rebounds as the Red Hawks cruised past the Red Raiders in Athol.

Justin Mieczkowski added 12 points and four assists, while Dan White (11 points, five rebounds) and Jaren Lutenegger (10 points, four assists) were also in double figures for Frontier (11-8, 11-7 Hampshire West).

Holyoke Catholic 65, Gateway Regional 45 - Nick Bryda scored 27 points as the Gaels (12-8, 7-1 Bi-County South) clinched sole possession of the league title in their regular-season finale.

Nate Powers added 15 points and 14 rebounds for Holyoke Catholic, and Ryan Ferriter scored a career-high 14 points to go with six assists.

Jeremy Tanguay led the Gators (6-12, 1-6) with 12 points, and Gabe Craig added 11.

Girls basketball

Amherst Regional 84, Westfield 27 - A game between an undefeated team and a winless one went as expected as the Hurricanes improved to 18-0 (8-0 Suburban) with the win in Westfield.

Kristen Ferola scored a career-high 17 points to go with seven rebounds for Amherst, which led 47-11 at halftime and 71-14 through three quarters of play.

Alyssa Leonard added 15 points for Amherst, and Jenna Klaes and Brianna Leonard had nine each.

Mariah Lesure finished with eight points and five blocks and frontcourt mate Nicole DeMarchena led the team with 10 rebounds to go with six points.

Gateway Regional 42, New Leadership 29 - Despite not scoring in the second quarter, the Gators clinched their first league title in 15 years.

The win gave Gateway the Tri-County League title.

Chelsea Merritt had 17 points to lead the Gators (15-2, 13-1 Tri-County), and Brooke Fairman added 10.

Ice hockey

Easthampton 6, Wahconah 6 - The Eagles rallied from deficits of 4-1 and 6-4 to keep their playoff hopes alive with a tie at Williston.

Andre Lafosse had four goals and two assists for Easthampton, and Greg Pion scored twice and set up three others. Zach Kareta, Ryan Judd and Zach Swanson each had single assists.

Matt Dziok made 43 saves in goal for Easthampton (5-7-6) which needs to beat Chicopee Comp at home at 7 p.m. Wednesday and Greenfield Friday on the road to qualify for the postseason.

Belchertown 8, Milford 2 - Jon Martins and Jonathan Duperre each had two goals and an assist as the Orioles (12-5-3) cruised in their regular-season finale in Westborough.

Matt Thornton and Matt Henry each added one goal and one assist for Belchertown, while Brian Boudreau and Ethan Auffrey finished with one goal.

Chris Lamoureux and Matt Zalucki each had two assists for the Orioles, and Adam Luippold and Luke Caney each had an assist.

Phil Ashley and Mike Fitzpatrick combined for seven saves in goal for Belchertown.

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