Brianna Leonard scores 22 for Amherst basketball in win at Northampton
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NORTHAMPTON - Two days of missed practice and a knee injury didn't slow down Brianna Leonard.
The Amherst Regional senior guard carried over a strong performance in the team's last game to score a season-high 22 points in a 72-56 win over rival Northampton on Thursday night.
"We were all pumped and ready to prove ourselves to everyone," said Leonard, whose squad opened a key three-game stretch with the victory. "It's kind of just like last year, we have to prove ourselves all over again."
Leonard suffered a knee injury during Monday's win over Minnechaug. She scored 20 points in that game, but didn't practice Tuesday or Wednesday. The swelling went down enough Thursday for her to play and she showed no signs of rust with 17 points in the first half.
"She played big for us considering that she hasn't practiced," said Amherst coach Christal Murphy, whose team improved to 7-1 with the victory. "She's tough, very tough."
Leonard added seven rebounds and five steals in the contest. She was one of five Amherst players in double figures as the Hurricanes scored their most points in a game since a 77-26 win at Chicopee on Feb. 16, 2010.
"That's the neat thing about this team. Any of the girls at any time can step up for us," Murphy said. "I thought they all played very hard."
Kristen Ferola added 19 points to go with six rebounds and five steals. Forbasaw Nkamebo (11 points, 16 rebounds), Victoria Stewart (10 points, eight rebounds, seven assists, four steals) and Sarah Mangels (10 points, four rebounds) also scored in double digits.
Amherst "out-toughed us and outrebounded us. We had them down early in the game and when that happened, we didn't wan to be tough enough to get some rebounds," Northampton coach Perry Messer said. "We didn't execute against their defense. We worked on it a lot in practice. When we executed, when we slowed down and played the game, we scored every time. But when you don't, it's a turnover and it's a layup. We called timeouts and we still didn't do it right."
Amherst plays at West Springfield (8-0) on Monday night and then hosts Holyoke (9-0) on Jan. 24.
"We're going to come out with as much as we've got and play our hearts out," said Leonard, whose team reached the state Division 1 final last year. The Terriers and Purple Knights were the top two seeds in last year's western Mass. tournament and were ousted in the semifinals.
On Thursday, Northampton took control of the game early, jumping out to a 9-3 lead despite missing starting guard Maya Kerstetter, who is expected to miss six weeks with an injury to her left foot. The sophomore, who averages 10 points per game and is one of the team's top two-way players, has been out since the team's loss to Pittsfield on Dec. 31.
"A lot of our bench players are stepping up, which is nice to see," sophomore forward Anna Moore said. "But we definitely miss having her."
Amherst trailed until Leonard knocked down a 3 at the buzzer to take an 11-10 lead into the second quarter. The Hurricanes led the rest of the way and took control with a 19-2 run to end the half.
"They are aggressive. They get into the passing lanes and when you don't make good passes, it turns into a layup line," Messer said. "That's what happened in the second quarter. After that, I thought we played them tough the rest of the way."
Sophomore point guard Anna Walther led all scorers with 23 points, but missed extended time in the first half with foul trouble and eventually fouled out with 4 minutes, 2 seconds left in the game.
"Part of that maturation process is not picking up cheap fouls because your feet aren't moving and you aren't in the right position," Messer said of Walther's continued improvement. "Some of them aren't her fault. Some of them, other people aren't defending and their player goes by them so she's coming over to help."
The Blue Devils, who trailed 36-18 at halftime, cut the deficit all the way to 54-47 early in the fourth quarter. Northampton trailed 59-49 when Walther picked up her fifth foul.
"I knew (my teammates) could do it, but it was hard to watch from the bench," Walther said. "We put in a lot of work and we knew they were going to be tough."
Strong play from Moore, who had five points in the final 3:03, kept the game in single digits until the Hurricanes iced it at the foul line.
Moore finished with 14 points, 10 rebounds and three blocks.
Moore "knows that we need her to step up without Maya in there," Messer said. "What she gave us tonight is what she's capable of giving us every night. She's still learning how to play the game, but she's doing the right things."
Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.
