NORTHAMPTON — Lauraine Joensen lined up a buzzer-beater.
The shot wouldn’t win the game for the Northampton girls basketball team, or even tie it. Central led by 31.
It would put her in the Blue Devils’ 1,000-point club, though.
There were 4.4 second left when Central’s Sha’raya Haines missed the second of two free throws. Hannalise Rivera-Lovett grabbed the rebound, took two dribbles and fired a pass up the court to Joensen.
She caught it halfway between the half-court and 3-point lines, took one dribble and let a shot go from the right wing. The ball hit the shot clock and bounced behind the backboard.
Central won 80-40 Wednesday. Joensen finished with 19 points in the game and 999 in her career.
“I didn’t expect to get 20. It would have been awesome to get the 1,000 points on my home court,” she said. “I’m not disappointed at all. I know I’m going to get it.”
The game’s final 38.1 seconds transformed from a basketball contest into Northampton trying to get Joensen the milestone after she made two free throws to get to 19. The Blue Devils fouled on defense despite being down nearly 30 points and pushed the ball to Joensen at every opportunity on offense.
Central coach Erik Maurer even tried to back the Golden Eagles’ defense down a bit in the last few minutes.
“I would have loved to see Lauraine get it. She’s a great player,” he said. “I really respect her as a player.”
Central (15-3, 7-0 Valley League) had that luxury after running away in the third and fourth quarters.
Northampton trailed 24-22 at halftime, but the Golden Eagles stretched that advantage to 47-36 after three quarters. They outscored the Blue Devils 33-13 in the fourth.
“People just lost their mental focus,” Joensen said.
Northampton turned the ball over 29 times, and Central hit 10 3s as a team. Phyness Baldwin made five of them and scored 24 points.
“The girls relished the opportunity. They were in a close game, there haven’t been a lot of those this year,” Maurer said. “They had a moment to think about it at halftime and come out and play to their capabilities.”
Northampton gave Central everything it could handle in the first half.
The Blue Devils led 13-12 after the first quarter behind seven points from Rivera-Lovett. She finished with 11 points, four rebounds and three steals.
“Now we’ve proven we can keep up with Central (for a half),” Joensen said. “It will be a lot better next time.
She will have her next chance at joining Northampton’s 1,000-point club 7 p.m. Friday at West Springfield.
“We’re not getting shut out,” Hamp coach Perry Messer said.
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.