Scoring drought dooms Northampton boys basketball in season-opening loss
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SPRINGFIELD - When the Northampton boys basketball team is in trouble, coach Rey Harp doesn't bail them out.
It's how the Blue Devils build experience. It's what has made them successful over the past five years.
In the team's season opener Tuesday at Putnam, the Beavers went on a 19-0 run in the second half. Putnam called timeout twice during the nearly six-minute spurt. Harp let his team play through its struggles, which ultimately led to a 56-45 loss for the defending western Massachusetts Division 1 champions.
"Nobody dislikes losing more than I do and more than this program does," Harp said. "One of the reasons why we get to that point is because we work through (struggles) and I got 12 guys on my team who will be better because of what we just went through."
Northampton's inexperienced backcourt struggled with Putnam's pressure defense. The Blue Devils also couldn't contain Putnam on the glass, which led to many second-chance baskets.
"I think our inexperience showed out here today against a team that is physical and aggressive," Harp said. "It's one loss. However big the game felt because it was the first one, however big the game felt because we were in a tight atmosphere against a good aggressive team, it was one loss. Win or lose, we got the type of experience that will be what gives us a chance to win."
Through two-plus quarters Hamp managed to stay one step ahead of the Beavers. Northampton hit eight of its nine 3-pointers when Putnam was in a half-court zone defense. When Wilson Sadowsky drained his second 3-pointer of the third quarter, it gave Hamp its largest lead of the night, 34-25 with 4 minutes, 23 seconds left.
Putnam (1-0) though switched defenses at the start of the second half, and it started to pay dividends. The Beavers pressed Hamp's young backcourt and stayed in a half-court man defense. The man-to-man defense prevented open looks at 3-pointers and triggered the 19-0 run.
KayJuan Bynum scored six of his team-high 14 points during the run.
"We looked good in the first half and we came out of halftime saying we weren't going to give them a run," Hamp senior Jarrod Neumann said. "We did. We're an inexperienced team, a young team. We'll work on that and get back in it."
A free throw by Neumann ended the run with 5:45 left in the fourth quarter but Hamp's offense couldn't get going again. The Blue Devils were held to one field goal for over 11 minutes of the second half. They had three field goals in the final 12:23.
It was the first time Hamp was held to 45 points or less since a 43-41 win over Amherst on Jan. 14, 2009. It was the first time they were held to 45 points or fewer in a loss since Feb. 20, 2007, when they fell to Longmeadow.
"There were nerves coming out of this," said Neumann of the first game. "Kids were too excited and I think nerves got to them, but we'll work on it and only time will make them better."
Neumann finished with a game-high 21 points and 13 rebounds.
Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com.
