AMHERST — In Wednesday night’s Western Mass. Class A basketball semifinal, Amherst found itself in serious difficulty with a 13-point deficit early in the fourth quarter, but the Hurricanes flew back into contention before falling agonizingly short.
Leading by two, Longmeadow missed the front end of a one-and-one with 10.6 seconds to play and the Hurricanes pushed the ball quickly upcourt. Evan Stewart drove right of the lane for a potential tying layup, but the Lancers’ Luke Pasterczyk blocked the shot out of bounds as time expired, allowing Longmeadow to get out of town with a 58-56 victory.
The sixth-seeded Lancers (12-8) advanced to the Class A championship game Saturday to face No. 1 Central. That game will tip at 2 p.m. at Chicopee Comp.
Amherst, the No. 2 seed, fell to 15-5.
“It’s the third game in a row we’ve had to claw our way back,” said Hurricanes coach Jamahl Jackson. “It’s a testament to the resiliency of this team, the fight in them, and no quit in them. A couple of plays went the other way. (Longmeadow) shot it well, and they really earned this tonight.”
Nine of Longmeadow’s 21 field goals came from beyond the 3-point arc. AJ Miles hit four 3-pointers in the span of just over three minutes early in the third quarter as the Lancers expanded a narrow 29-28 halftime edge to 51-40 at the end of three quarters. Miles led all scorers with 18 points, with teammate Griffin Collins right behind with 17. Tommy McMahon scored 13.
Isa Castro-McCauley was the top man for Amherst with 17 points. Zayd Sadiq added 13, Evan Stewart finished with eight and Brandon Stewart and Keidy Cardoso each pitched in with five.
Longmeadow started brightly with the first seven points of the night, including a trey by Collins, as Amherst didn’t get on the board until Castro-McCauley’s foul-line jumper 3:18 into the action. Tommy O’Donnell stuck a late 3-pointer to break a tie and put the Lancers up 12-9 after the first eight minutes.
The visitors then jumped in front by seven on three separate occasions before the half, the last at 27-20, before Amherst closed on an 8-2 run thanks to back-to-back threes by Castro-McCauley. His second, with only 14 seconds left, pulled the ‘Canes to within 29-28 at the break.
Amherst would then grab its only lead of the game, 34-32, early in the third after Sadiq scored two straight transition buckets. Miles then converted a rare four-point play. Castro-McCauley knotted the score again with a right corner jumper, but Miles buried two more from deep to make it 42-36 and force an Amherst timeout with 4:54 left in the third.
The Lancers put together the last six points of the quarter to go up 51-40, and O’Donnell’s 3-pointer 28 seconds into the fourth made it 54-41 and left the Hurricanes on the brink.
Longmeadow still led 58-50 after a driving circus shot fell for McMahon with 2:21 to play, and that’s when Amherst made its last push. Sadiq knocked down a 3-pointer from right in front of his own bench, Nolan Klaes made 1-of-2 free throws, and Evan Stewart’s driving hoop with 27 seconds to go made it 58-56. The Hurricanes then had to foul three times just to get Longmeadow into the bonus, the last with 10.6 seconds to play. Miles missed the front end of the one-and-one to give Amherst its opening, but Pasterczyk’s block of Stewart sealed it.
The Hurricanes also missed chances at the foul line with only two makes in nine tries.
“You can’t make mistakes against teams that pass it well and shoot it well,” said Jackson. “We pride ourselves this year on our matchup zone defense. They were prepared and did some things with screening to put us in tough positions. Give them a little inch, and a guy’s gonna bury it.
“I’m proud of my guys for how we fought and came back and were right there in position at the end. Tough last play, but this will be something we can learn from. We still have more basketball to play in the state tournament. Our whole season wasn’t riding on this game.”