AMHERST — While No. 16 Amherst was in control for the opening 24 minutes of its MIAA Div. 2 Round of 32 contest against No. 17 Tewksbury, the Hurricanes found themselves leading just 36-28 heading into the fourth quarter. 

Thanks to some lights out shooting, Amherst made sure Tewksbury wouldn’t close that gap any closer in the fourth quarter.

The Hurricanes knocked down four 3-pointers in the final eight minutes, outscoring Tewksbury 24-15 in the frame to pull away with a 60-43 victory on Friday night.

The Hurricanes (17-4) advanced to the Round of 16, where they will take on top-seeded Walpole on Tuesday.

“It’s great for the school and program to have a home game in states,” Amherst coach Ralph Loos said. “That was one of our goals to start the season. Tewksbury is a very good team. We watched them on tape before and they’re very well balanced. They have three really good players and they hit a lot of 3’s. We did a good job making their 3’s hard tonight and we did a good job competing on the boards. We switched up defenses occasionally to throw them off because if you run the same stuff, they’re tough. The kids executed down the stretch almost flawlessly.”

It was Sara Hastie who got the scoring started for Amherst in the fourth quarter, knocking down a 3. Sam Ryan did what she could to keep the Hurricanes from running away with it, scoring back-to-back baskets for Tewksbury (9-12) and after Audrey Bowen made a pair of free throws, Ryan swished a 3 to cut the Amherst lead to 41-35. 

Bowen then found her stroke from deep, sinking two straight 3’s before Kawall got to the line and made both shots, putting the Hurricanes up 49-35 midway through the quarter. 

Tewksbury responded with a run of its own, as Emily Picher made a free throw, Ryan got inside for two and Vicki Lavargna made a 3, keeping the visitors within 49-41. 

As was the case throughout the quarter, Amherst had an answer from downtown to keep Tewksbury at arm’s length as Sophie Higham sank a 3-pointer to halt the Tewksbury run. The Hurricanes knocked down their free throws late to close out the game and advance in the state tournament. 

For Loos, having a large senior class was a big factor in Amherst taking over the game late, as the experience of that senior group managed to stay composed during Tewksbury’s runs. 

“We’re blessed to have five seniors who have been with me for four years,” Loos said. “Sophie Higham hit a dagger there and played phenomenal defense on [Ryan]. She’s a great player who can score inside and out and Sophie did a phenomenal job on her. All five of the seniors, our maturity showed in the fourth quarter. We didn’t panic when they trapped us, we ran the shot clock down to two or three [seconds]. I’d like to say it’s coaching but they’re just smart basketball players.”

Tessa Kawall had the hot hand early for the Hurricanes, knocking down a pair of 3’s in the first quarter to put Amherst ahead 10-6 after the opening frame. Kawall and Hastie both made two shots, Bowen drained a 3 and Niyama Adadevoh scored inside during the second quarter to give the Hurricanes a 23-17 advantage at the half. 

Both teams traded baskets throughout the third quarter, with Amherst holding a six-to-eight point advantage throughout the frame. Kawall knocked down a 3 in the final seconds of the third to give the Hurricanes their 36-28 lead going into the fourth. 

Kawall finished with a game-high 23 points in the win. Hastie tacked on 15 points, Bowen finished with 13 points and Adadevoh added six points for Amherst. 

Loos didn’t know the results of the Northampton-Walpole Round of 32 game after his team’s victory, but said his side would be ready to go no matter who it was facing in the Round of 16. 

“We’ll see what happens,” Loos said. “We find ourselves in a unique position rooting for Northampton. If we’re on the road, we almost won on the road last year. They’ll have to worry about us just as much as we have to worry about them.” 

No. 1 Walpole 63, No. 33 Northampton 35 — After 16 minutes of action in Walpole on Friday, it looked like the Blue Devils were on their way toward an upset bid. 

Northampton trailed the top-seeded Timberwolves just 29-27 at the break, but Walpole made sure the 33rd-seeded Blue Devils wouldn’t knock them off by putting together a dominant second half, one in which it outscored Northampton 34-8 to earn a spot in the Round of 16 with a 63-35 victory. 

The Blue Devils close out their season with a 13-9 record. 

It was a massive third quarter that put the Timberwolves in control, outscoring Northampton 24-2 to take command. 

 Ava Azzaro led the way with 10 points for the Blue Devils. Chloe Denhart tossed in eight points, Bri Heafey finished with six points and Chloe Derby scored five points in the loss. 

Div. 4 Round of 32

No. 1 Cathedral 77, No. 33 Hampshire 11 — After defeating Lynn Tech in the preliminary round, the Raiders were unable to pull off the upset over top seeded Cathedral in the Round of 32 on Friday. 

Hampshire closes out its season with a 7-15 record while Cathedral advances to play No. 16 South Hadley in the Round of 16. 

]]>