BELCHERTOWN — The Belchertown girls basketball team orchestrated a decisive victory over Granby on Thursday night, earning a 58-26 win on its home floor.

Chloe LaRoche led the scoring for the home team, posting 16 points in the win, followed closely by Macie Bolton with 15 points. Granby’s Kalli White led the Rams with seven points in the loss. 

The Orioles also honored the memory of Zachary Fraleigh at the game, a Belchertown student and soccer player who died last May. Fans and players wore pink in memory of Fraleigh and raffled off prizes with all proceeds going to the Zachary Fraleigh Memorial Fund. 

“A little part of it was to the night - you’re honoring a dear friend and wanted to play for him and I feel like we just clicked together as a group,” Bolton said. “We love each other and we all work together and it really feels like a family. It just clicked really well in the first half.”

Fraleigh’s favorite color, pink, was everywhere in Belchertown’s gym for the occasion. Pink streamers were wrapped around the bleacher stairs, fans wore bright pink shirts, and the Orioles wore pink socks or pink pre-wrap in their hair. It was a special night to remember a special person. 

“We loved seeing the sea of pink in the stands,” LaRoche said. 

Bolton and her parents, along with her friend Karleigh Richter, were instrumental in setting up the night. It was important for both her and Richter to do something to honor Fraleigh’s memory. 

“I had classes with him, I grew up with him, and he was just a light in the darkness. He could always make you smile,” Bolton said. “It was just really important for me and my friend Karleigh Richter to honor him tonight. She also helped set this whole thing up and I just love it.”

From the get go, Belchertown’s scorching hot offense and aggressive defense was too much for the Rams to handle. Belchertown held Granby off the board entirely in the first frame, as the visitors didn’t get their first basket of the night until 1 minute, 23 seconds into the second quarter. By halftime, Belchertown held a comfortable 40-3 advantage. 

“We thought we could come out tonight and maybe use our press in the beginning and get off to a good start and it worked. We shot the ball pretty well in the first half, so happy with that,” Belchertown head coach Jason Woodcock said. “Defense was great, I mean the girls did everything right. Give a lot of credit to Granby, they played a good second half, their girls didn’t quit at all.” 

Granby had more luck scoring the basketball in the second half, knocking down eight points in the third quarter and 15 in the fourth. Six different Granby players found the scoresheet in the fourth quarter; Aubrey Parent sank a pair of baskets and Autumn Sicard hit a 3-pointer as Granby made up for its first-half struggles. 

Belchertown is still aiming to reach the state tournament, needing three more wins to secure a .500 record. Their next three games against Monument Mountain, Mount Greylock and Ludlow are all rematches, and the Orioles beat all three the first time around. 

“We’d lost a few games that we wish we had back but we're in there. We’ve got a chance. Our goal is 10 wins to get in the tournament and we've got three games right in front of us that we've beaten all three of the teams earlier in the year,” Woodcock said. “It doesn't mean we're gonna win again, but we know we chance to go get ourselves to 10 wins.” 

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