Boys basketball: Amherst upends Northampton, 75-57

AMHERST — The Amherst boys basketball team won this year’s second “Battle of the Bridge” matchup, 75-57, on its home court over Northampton on Friday night.

In the packed gym, the Hurricanes got off to a hot start, feeding off the crowd and continually growing the lead throughout the contest.

Mitchell Carey had an outstanding performance for Amherst in the win, tallying 38 points on the night. The senior caught fire from deep, hitting six 3-pointers in the process.

Using his size, Carey battled on both ends, hitting tough shots on offense while flying around the court for blocks, steals, rebounds and loose balls on the defensive side.

“[Carey] was a senior leader [on Friday],” Hurricanes head coach Jamahl Jackson said. “He scores the ball, he rebounds, he defends, he does a lot of things for us. It was great to see him have a good home game [Friday], because our last game here on Wednesday was a tougher game for him, and he struggled a little bit, so this was a good bounce back for him.”

Despite dislocating his finger the day before the matchup against the Blue Devils, Carey wasn’t bothered. He took shots with confidence throughout all four quarters, including a few heat checks that shocked the fans in attendance.

Brayden Nichols-Staples matched the offensive explosion for Northampton, tallying 34 points in the loss. The senior also made his money on the outside, making eight 3-pointers over the course of the night.

Amherst did its best to keep Nichols-Staples covered defensively, but his confidence in his jump shot proved to make defending him seem impossible at times. Even with the senior’s big night, the Hurricanes’ offense was too much to handle for the Blue Devils.

“[Nichols-Staples was] trying to keep pace,” Northampton head coach Rey Harp said. “We know we have scorers, and he’s one of our better scorers, but we were trying to keep pace. That doesn’t do us much when [Amherst is] pouring in the way [it was] pouring on the other side. But, obviously, 34 points. It’s a nice night scoring.”

Outside of the 34 points they surrendered to Nichols-Staples, the Hurricanes held the rest of their opponents in check. Nathan Lupert finished with the next highest point total on the night for the Blue Devils with seven points.

While guards like Gael Buford and Brady Klaes did their best to defend the perimeter, Samuel Woodruff served as Amherst’s anchor in the paint. The senior used his height and strength to his advantage on Friday, swatting shots at the rim and corralling rebounds on both ends.

Woodruff dominated the inside, fighting for positioning down low to be a target for passes from his teammates. He was efficient at the rim all night long, making 10 shots in a 21-point effort.

“I thought [Woodruff] could be a matchup problem for [the Blue Devils],” Jackson said. “[He] was being explosive. He wasn’t being indecisive. He was going up, and he was finishing. He was going after the ball. And that’s what we need from him. I was so pleased with [Woodruff’s] effort and his fight [on Friday].”

Serving as the Hurricanes’ main ball-handler, Buford consistently found Carey and Woodruff inside, weaving passes around defenders to generate open looks. The senior added on 13 points of his own in the victory.

Amherst lost the first matchup against Northampton earlier this year in its third game of the season, coming back with a vengeance on Friday night. Getting the big win at home meant a lot to the team, but the Hurricanes know it’s just another game on the journey.

With the victory, Amherst improves to 8-3 on the season, looking to continue the hot start to the year on Monday, Jan. 19 at 7 p.m. on the road against Chicopee Comp.

“I like what we showed [on Friday night], but it’s [about] keeping them consistent, keeping them humble,” Jackson said. “It’s great that we’re 8-3 now, but to be honest, we still haven’t really proved anything yet. There’s a lot of basketball left, so we’re just going to stay on them and keep them humble, but keep them working and keep them playing for each other.”

Northampton now sits at 4-5 after Friday night’s loss, hoping to regroup on Tuesday, Jan. 20 at 7 p.m., hosting Palmer at home.

“We know where we are,” Harp said. “We know that we have a lot of work to do in order to get to a point where we’re competing consistently at that level. I think the biggest takeaway is that we just have to execute better, and we’ve got to do all the little things that we’ve been preaching, but didn’t necessarily come through out here [on Friday].”