Blue Devils advance over Amherst
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NORTHAMPTON - Pat Harrington and Ellis Cooper offered little more than a smile and a high-five following the final buzzer Friday night.
There was no celebration and no chest bumping. Just pure exhaustion from beating your rivals in the postseason.
Northampton held off Amherst Regional 63-58 to advance to the Western Massachusetts Division 1 semifinal round.
"It's one down and two to go for now," Harrington said. "We know this was a big win but there's a long road ahead."
It was the first time these two rivals had met in the postseason and over 800 fans packed the Northampton gymnasium.
"The atmosphere was great. It was talked about in school and around town," Cooper said. "We wanted to make sure this wasn't the end of our season."
The top-seeded Blue Devils (17-4) will play No. 4 Westfield (13-8) at 8 p.m. Tuesday at American International College. Westfield beat No. 5 Sci-Tech 67-60 on Friday. Hamp, which swept the season series from the Bombers, is seeking its first-ever trip to the Division 1 finals.
"The bigger plan is to win against" Westfield, Northampton coach Rey Harp said. "That's the plan right now."
Ninth-seeded Amherst (12-10), which entered the game with 10 road wins, lost on the road for the third time this season and first since Dec. 30.
"We made a great run and it's always disappointing to lose up here," Amherst senior Sean Cunningham said. "It was a good game and we have nothing to hang our heads about."
The third meeting between these two teams was no different than the other two regular-season matchups. Neither team took control as the Blue Devils' largest lead was nine points early in the first quarter. Amherst's largest lead was 10, early in the third.
And with five minutes left, the game was tied at 47.
"We expected them to be there in the end," Harp said. "We knew it was going to be a close game. They're too composed and they have too much ability."
With Blue Devil sharp-shooter Jesse Coulon (injured) on the bench and Cooper saddled with four fouls, Amherst took a 50-47 lead when Charles White knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game.
Hamp came back as Harrington drilled a 3-pointer in the corner and was fouled. He converted the four-point play to give the Blue Devils a 51-50 lead with 4:32 left.
Moments later Cunningham tied the game with one free throw but Cooper, who re-entered moments earlier, drove for a layup with 2:29 left to give Northampton a 53-51 lead.
Cunningham answered with another free throw but in the final two minutes the game changed on defense.
"We were sitting around too much and turned it over," Cunningham said. "We tried to handle the ball pressure but we were too weak with the ball. That hurt us a lot. We tried to turn it around but we gave our best."
With 1:48 left, Cooper stole the ball from Ben Brassord and got it to Jake Konowitch who was fouled. The senior made both free throws to give the Blue Devils a 55-52 lead.
On Amherst's next possession, White (11 points) was fouled but he missed both free throws. Brassord grabbed the offensive rebound but Harrington came up with the steal. On the other end, Jose Allen stole the ball back but Amherst turned it over again.
With 47.3 seconds left, Basil Stewart fell down. Cooper hovered over him, grabbing at the ball. Amherst coach Jim Matuszko attempted to call a time-out but the officials could not hear him.
The ball was knocked across half court where Jake Laga picked it up, scored and was fouled. He made the free throw to give Hamp a 58-52 lead.
Amherst quickly answered as Will Hird (10 points) drilled a 3 in transition. Following a time-out Cooper was fouled and he made both for a 60-55 lead with 27 seconds left.
Allen then hit a 3 on the other end but Laga made two free throws and Konowitch added one to seal the win.
"They were the No. 1 seed and I told my guys the pressure is on them," Matuszko said. "It was a heck of a high school game."
Northampton outscored Amherst 36-26 in the second half. The Hurricanes' motion offense came to a halt and Cunningham (26 points) was slowed by the Blue Devils' defense. The guard scored 16 first-half points as Amherst led 32-27 at halftime.
"These guys don't want to go home yet," Harrington said. "Last year was the worst feeling, going home early. We survived to play another day."
Cooper led Northampton with 19 points while Harrington had a career-high 16 points, filling in offensively for Coulon, who is 16 points shy of 1,000 for his career.
"We needed Pat to step up," Cooper said. "Pat played a hell of a game. He played defense, offense and got the ball when we needed it."
Harp went six deep on his bench, and they responded. Grant Cooper, Ellis' younger brother, had four points. Grant Cooper had a putback at the end of the second and fast-break layup at the end of the third to spark Hamp.
With less than a minute left in the third, Joey Savarese stole the ball and found Harrington, who quickly passed ahead to Ellis Cooper, who slipped a bounce pass to his brother for the layup and foul. Cooper missed the free throw but Hamp had momentum entering the fourth, trailing 43-42.
Just prior to Grant Cooper's play, Savarese grabbed an offensive rebound and was fouled. He made both from the line to pull the Blue Devils within 43-40.
"Everyone no matter who it is ... kids are ready to play and that's what we prepare for," Ellis Cooper said. "All season we prepare for #When we need you, and we put you in the game, we know you can do something.' That's what kids did off the bench."
Hamp jumped out to a 9-0 lead but Amherst came right back. Cunningham hit a 3, White scored five straight points and Cunningham scored on a drive to key a 16-4 run to end the first.
White added another 3 in the second and Cunningham scored 11 of Amherst's final 13 points of the half as the Hurricanes led 32-27.
At the start of the third, Brassord scored inside and Hird hit a 3-pointer as Amherst led 37-27. Harrington though answered with a 3 and the Blue Devils crept back.
"We came in knowing we can play with anyone," Cunningham said. "We hit them hard first half and battled in the second half. They just made a couple runs and we didn't respond."
It was the final game for Amherst seniors Tony Feudo, Will Hirschfeld, Kevin Ziomek, Jonah Herscu, Brassord and Cunningham.
Second-seeded East Longmeadow (17-4) will face No. 6 Central (13-8) at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the other semifinal game. Central beat West Springfield 62-42 and East Longmeadow defeated Chicopee 69-39 in other quarterfinals on Friday.
Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com. For more coverage, including a high school sports blog, go to www.gazettenet.com/hs-sports.
