SOUTH HADLEY – The pressure commences at the first dead ball. South Hadley sends all five of its players to the opponents’ side of the court. Inbounding becomes obscured. Outlet passes are denied. Ball handlers are doubled in compromising positions.

The South Hadley girls basketball team has run a version of its press for coach Paul Dubuc’s entire tenure, relying on an innate athleticism and constant drilling to refine it.

“We try to press from the start and never really stop, honestly,” South Hadley senior Alex Jackson said.

One turnover compounds into another. The opposition shuffles through point guards or calls timeout to strategize another breakout strategy.

“We try to pressure the ball so much and we do it right at them. Teams don’t know how to break it sometimes,” Jackson said.

That’s the plan. Keep the ball out of the opponents hands and in South Hadley’s. The press has been the point of attack in South Hadley’s suffocating defense. The Tigers are allowing just 34.5 points per game this season in a 5-1 start. No opponent has even cracked 50 against them. South Hadley has held four opponents under 40 points and three under 30.

“We work on it every single day. We make sure our positioning is right so when it’s game time we can perform,” South Hadley junior Drew Alley said.

The press can become an offense in and of itself when the Tigers are struggling in the half court. South Hadley has only scored more than 50 points itself once.

“We’re a little offensively challenged,” Dubuc said. “So we work really hard.”

The defense has been enough to keep it in front of teams so far. South Hadley trailed East Longmeadow by seven points at halftime Friday then held the Spartans to 17 points in the second half and scored 24 in the fourth quarter to win.

“We couldn't make a shot, and our defense literally carried us through the game,” Dubuc said. “We could not score, but our defense was there for four quarters.”

Defending so well provides a foundation that keeps South Hadley in every game, and the offense is only going to improve. The Tigers roster just two seniors: Jackson and Kacie Levrault. They rely on five sophomores and two juniors that are learning how to play together and how each player fits.

“We are working on team bonding a lot right now,” Alley said. “Just having a better connection with each other makes that easier when we’re on the court.”

Even though the Tigers graduated five seniors from last year’s state Final Four team that also reached the Western Massachusetts Class B championship game, they’re hoping the combination of a swarming defense and maturing young players can take them further.

“We definitely have some determination from last year,” Jackson said. “We're ready to go.”

They’re going to find out how ready soon. South Hadley still needs to face Amherst and Wahconah twice and has another game against Hoosac Valley, its only loss.

“There’s not too many easy ones,” Dubuc said. “We need to play those guys.”

Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.]]>