NORTHAMPTON — The Northampton boys basketball team sank 12 3-pointers, overcoming Agawam 85-50 Wednesday and improving to 10-2 on the season.
Henry Doherty contributed seven of those 3-pointers, six of which occurred in the first half. Finishing with 29 points, including 20 in the first half, Doherty helped the Blue Devils maintain a comfortable lead all night.
“(Doherty has) been really locked in for us,” Northampton coach Rey Harp said. “He hasn’t really established himself as a shooter to that volume in a long time so it was really nice to see him doing it from the 3-point line.
“He also was feeding, he got a bunch of assists, he was creating for other guys in the second half when he could’ve been going out there trying for more points. He does a lot for us, he’s an efficient scorer, and an efficient performer on offense but he’s also a guy who has led us and has put us in a position to come out here and stay focused.”
Northampton outscored the Brownies 28-10 in the third quarter to put the game out of reach. The Blue Devils went 8-for-8 from the free-throw line during a stretch that included two three-point plays from Michael McCarthy, who scored 12 of his 15 points in the third.
The Blue Devils set the tone from the opening tipoff, coming out with intensity after losing 59-46 against Putnam Monday. Taking advantage of Doherty’s hot hand and the Brownies’ inability to contain him, Northampton continuously found Doherty behind the arc as the senior to register 12 of the Blue Devils’ first 15 points.
“My best friend Diego (Corrada-Mattei) is the starting shooting guard and he has the flu, he’s our shooter usually,” Doherty said. “So I said I wanted to step it up for him and I really wanted to do that.”
Northampton used its first timeout in the second quarter after Jaeden Johndrow missed a dunk and Agawam capitalized on the other end with a 3-pointer. The Brownies (3-10) made their most valiant effort minutes later pulling within one, but that was as close as they got.
Doherty answered Agawam’s run, sinking his fifth 3-pointer to jumpstart the Blue Devils’ dominate third.
Harp considers the 3-pointer to be part of his team’s offensive attack, but after accumulating so many in the first half it was time for the forwards to play more aggressively inside in order to open up the outside again.
“One of the things that got us going was Andy (Grygorcewicz) and Mike (McCarthy) and the pressure they put on the basket inside,” Harp said. “Neither one of them had the type of touches that we thought they deserved in the first half, so both of them came out in the second half feeding each other and getting side. We got a bunch of buckets inside early (in the second half) and that made it possible for us to get back outside.”
Frustration grew for the Brownies, who trailed by 27 points entering the fourth quarter.
Harp was proud to see his team stay focused in the fourth.
“There would’ve been a concern that we would’ve looked at a record, looked at the kids who came out here and looked at anything that was going on in their huddle and their locker room,” Harp said. “We would’ve played without our focus and intensity that we had out here but now that we’ve moved into a new season here we’re trying to use every game as a way to prepare for the tournament.”
Grygorcewicz and Jovante Grant registered nine points each with all of Grant’s points stemming from his three 3-pointers in the final quarter. Anthony Dejesus also contributed 10 points.
“It was important for us to reestablish ourselves after a loss the other night,” Harper said. “I thought it was a strong performance.”