BELCHERTOWN — The Belchertown boys basketball team lost a gritty battle against Chicopee, falling 58-43 on Tuesday night.
The Orioles were playing their second game in as many days and the fatigue caught up to them as they struggled to deal with the constant pressure that came from the Pacers throughout all four quarters.
Early on, Belchertown found success using its size to get easy buckets in the paint. As the game progressed, Chicopee’s quickness and aggression overshadowed the size advantage, leading to over 25 turnovers for the Orioles.
“I just think our effort wasn’t there [Tuesday],” Belchertown head coach Jim Hart said. “I just don’t think our starting five came out with an effort that was going to be able to beat [Chicopee]. There’s a good team. They’re scrappy, and it was kind of a mismatch for us.”
Facing a full-court press for most of the game, getting the ball was never easy for the Orioles. Austin Raymer served as the team’s main ball-handler, doing his best to limit turnovers while creating offensive looks for his teammates.
Raymer played every minute of Tuesday night’s game for Belchertown, battling on both ends and tallying eight points in the loss.
“[Raymer’s] just going to give you effort, and that’s all I want,” Hart said. “[He] earns everything… He’s like a coach on the court. He’s good with the communication.”
The Orioles were led in scoring by Brice Letendre, who played a little bit under the weather while still recovering from the flu. The junior gave it his best effort on Tuesday, finishing his night with 15 points.
Quinten Chen had a solid night off the bench for Belchertown, making the most of his minutes to the tune of eight points, including 10 trips to the free-throw line.
With evident struggles on both ends, Hart chose to give his second unit more playing time. Because his team was playing on back-to-back nights, Hart tried to keep his players on the court as fresh as possible.
“We have a hard time defending fast guys, because we’re big,” Hart said. “We have to do a better job at closing out on shooters, finding the guys on transition, and we have a tough time doing that… I had to make the switch because we were getting more out of our guards than we were out of our starters.”
The Orioles also struggled to find a groove from the outside offensively against the Pacers, only hitting one 3-pointer compared to six from their opponents.
With the defeat, Belchertown now sits at 5-5 on the season, looking to get back on track after two losses in a row. The team is back in action on Friday, Jan. 16, at 7 p.m., hitting the road to take on East Longmeadow.
“I had to send a message to our starters, because they just weren’t giving enough effort,” Hart said. “And the second group that came in there, they played pretty hard. Those guys aren’t basketball guys, but they’re athletes, and they’re hungry, and so hopefully that message is sent moving forward through the next couple of games.”