James Sowers scores career-high 15 on 17th birthday in win by Amherst hoop
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AMHERST - James Sowers' birthday wish came true.
The Amherst Regional junior guard played a terrific game as the Hurricanes beat rival Northampton 46-41 Monday night to sweep the season series.
"It was a very good birthday present," said Sowers, who turned 17. "I wanted a win against Northampton and we got it."
Sowers scored a career-high 15 points for Amherst (7-6, 3-1 Suburban), which was missing second leading scorer Josh Whitaker.
"He helps us a lot, but not on offense," Hurricanes guard Noris Cuevas-Nova said of Sowers. "Today he stepped up on offense and that really helped us a lot."
While Sowers contributed on the offensive end, it was Amherst's defense that played a major part in the victory. The Blue Devils (7-7, 1-2), who were averaging 58.6 points per game during their five-game winning streak, were held to a season-low 41 points as the streak came to an end.
"That was our best defensive effort," said Amherst coach Jim Matuszko, whose team held Northampton to 42 points on Jan. 10. "We had a lot of focus on getting better defensively in practice, especially without Josh there. Guys had to step up."
The Hurricanes contained Blue Devils senior standout Jarrod Neumann to five first-half field goals and four second-half free throws for 14 points. Jared Murphy was held to 10, and Jake Ross scored just three points, six below his average.
"Amherst played a great defensive game," Northampton coach Rey Harp said. "We struggled a little bit against some of the things they were doing out front against us and when that happened, getting our front line involved was a little difficult."
Despite their offensive struggles, the Blue Devils trailed just 33-31 entering the fourth but a 3-pointer by Cuevas-Nova (16 points, 10 rebounds) to open the frame pushed the lead to five.
Murphy answered with a jumper, but Sowers followed with a 3-pointer. After two free throws by Neumann, Sowers flipped in a difficult layup for a 41-35 lead with 4 minutes, 17 seconds left.
"I just hoped that (layup) went in," Sowers said. "Defense, baskets like that and the crowd really helped us out."
Both offenses went cold for the next two minutes until Ben Christopher made two free throws to pull Northampton within 41-37 with two minutes left.
Amherst pulled away on its next two possessions. Cuevas-Nova made two free throws then drove for an uncontested layup and a 45-37 lead with 1:12 remaining.
Northampton could only close within 45-41 with 14.2 seconds left.
"We know their guards are strong," Harp said. "Sowers had a great game. I thought Sowers was a big problem for us. Offensively he was getting to the foul line, getting shots to drop in. Defensively he was getting inside of us. He's a tough kid, a tough matchup."
Northampton lost Stevie Roach just before halftime with a thumb injury. Roach did not play in the second half.
"He's a guy that makes us go," Harp said. "Not having him out there was different for us in the second half. We can't pin it on that. We had our opportunities but we didn't take advantage of them."
Mike Moran can be reached at mmoran@gazettenet.com.
