Mariah Lesure has lived her entire life in Amherst.

But it wasn't until last year that the Amherst Regional junior center, who will turn 17 next month, truly grasped the meaning of getting to the Curry Hicks Cage.

"I didn't start going until I got into high school," the 6-foot standout said. "I've gone (as a spectator the last two years) and felt like I didn't really understood the experience until last year. Being there, watching everyone play, it made me really want it."

On Saturday, Lesure and the No. 1 Hurricanes (21-0) will play in their hometown for the Western Massachusetts Division 1 title against defending champion No. 3 East Longmeadow (17-4) in the fifth of six championship games at the Cage.

The game is scheduled to begin at 5:45 p.m.

"Everyone on our team considers it a home game because it's right down the road," junior forward Nicole DeMarchena said. "It's that much more of a plus. Hopefully, we'll have a lot of fans come out to support us."

Amherst is in its first regional final since losing to Minnechaug Regional in 2000. That Falcons team, which went on to win the state championship, was the region's last undefeated Division 1 girls team and was led by current Hurricanes coach Christal Murphy.

"East Longmeadow is the defending champion," Murphy said. "They have the experience to win it all and the talent to back it up."

Murphy knows the value of that championship experience, as her Minnechaug team won four straight western Massachusetts titles and three straight state titles, capping it off with that undefeated 2000 team.

Spartans coach Erik Maurer, meanwhile, hopes his returning players will make the difference for East Longmeadow.

"I think the experience that (senior center) Krista (Ferrentino), (senior guard) Laurie (Bonano) and (junior forward) Kylie (White) have on this basketball team has helped some of the younger kids," Maurer said.

While the Spartans already have enjoyed success at the Cage, these Hurricanes have never played there and experienced their first tournament semifinal in Wednesday's 46-25 win over Pittsfield at American International College.

East Longmeadow, meanwhile, looked unstoppable in the first half of its semifinal win over No. 2 Holyoke (19-3) and led 31-6 midway through the second quarter.

But the Purple Knights used a terrific perimeter defense to claw their way back into the game and nearly completed an incredible comeback before the Spartans held on for the 52-46 win.

Now East Longmeadow needs to have more of that first-half effort to knock off the Hurricanes, who won the lone regular-season matchup between the teams 58-47 in Amherst on Dec. 23.

In that game, Hurricane senior guards Jenna Klaes (career-high 24 points) and 1,000-point career scorer Alyssa Leonard (19) combined for 43 points, many coming off turnovers.

"They are the best defensive team I've seen in western Mass. by far. We are going to have to try to contend with that," Maurer said. "We can't afford to have turnovers against Amherst. All their offense comes from defensive transition. We have to do a good job of that."

The Hurricanes, meanwhile, will use both Lesure and DeMarchena to try to slow down 1,000-point scorer Ferrentino, who had 33 points in the semifinal win.

"East Longmeadow depends on Ferrentino a lot for their offense," Lesure said. "We know we have to keep an eye on her at all times. We have to box her out and prevent her from even getting the ball when she posts up. All the rotations have to be crisp the entire game."

Division 3 girls

The last time Smith Academy reached the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament final in 2002, it defeated Lee 47-44 for its second straight title.

Since then, the Falcons have fallen all the way to a 1-19 season in 2007, only to re-emerge two seasons later in Saturday's championship game, which kicks off the day at the Cage at 10:45 a.m.

"I can't shoot the ball or rebound. I can only try to prepare them as best I can," said second-year coach Ted Wilcox, whose team (20-2) split the Franklin South title with Division 2 Frontier Regional this season. "These kids have put in an awful lot of work to get things turned around."

The Wildcats, meanwhile, have played in all seven title matches since they last met Smith, winning six times.

Lee, which has won 17 Division 3 titles overall, is enjoying one of its greatest seasons in a history filled with them. The No. 1 Wildcats (21-1) won the powerful Berkshire North outright for the first time ever, their only loss all season coming at home to Amherst 41-37 on Dec. 29.

The Wildcats are coming off an impressive 72-45 semifinal win over Ware (17-6) in a contest that Lee led by as many as 40 points.

"Every game we try to set the pace, the tempo of the game," Wildcats second-year coach Gary Wellington told the Berkshire Eagle this week. "We want to play an up-tempo game. I told the kids earlier that they have to play our game. The quickness in our offensive sets gets our defense going. Every game - no matter if it's Pittsfield, Wahconah or Monument - that's what we try to do."

Lee is led by Katie Eckart (14.9 points per game). The senior guard scored a career-high 33 points in the win over Ware, while sisters Stephanie and Alex Young each average more than 10 points per game.

Smith Academy, meanwhile, is coming off an enthralling 45-43 buzzer-beating semifinal win over No. 3 Sabis (18-4) on Tuesday.

Senior guard Lindsay Gondek (11.5 points per game) went coast-to-coast to score a layup as time expired to win that contest. She led all scorers with 16 points, but the Falcons have six players who can score in double digits.

"It's a very tight-knit team," Wilcox said. "The whole team cares about one another so much. They play so many sports together. It's a very special group of kids."

Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.