PITTSFIELD, Mass. – For the first time since 2019, the Pittsfield girls basketball team held its season opener against Northampton.
The last time the Generals faced the Blue Devils, it was a 20-point Northampton win. On Wednesday, Pittsfield was competitive throughout but came up on the short end of a 49-39 decision.
“We hustled but we came up empty,” Pittsfield coach Joe Racicot said
Harolyn Castillo led the Generals with 15 points. Right behind Castillo was Charlotte Goodnow, who added to the total with 14 points.
In the first quarter, Goodnow led the girl's team with five points: one layup, and one of her three 3-point shots.
Castillo followed closely with three points from two separate trips to the foul line. Followed by Madison Stetz who made both free-throw shots of her own too.
Dezera Powel ended the first quarter with a layup to tie the game at 12-12.
In the second quarter, Northampton took the lead with a 3-point shot from the outside.
Castillo came back hard with a fast layup, also passing that energy to Kyana Summers who scored a layup as well.
Northampton came back with a free-throw and a series of layups in the last minutes of the quarter gaining 16 points.
Castillo ended the quarter with a layup assist from Summers. Northampton kept the lead at 18-28.
In the second half, Northampton came out of the gates scoring two 3-pointers in the first two minutes of the quarter.
This was then followed by Castillo making a series of free-throws until she sat down with an apparent ankle injury in the last minute of the quarter.
Goodnow then made the last two points of the quarter with a layup ending it 29-42.
In the last quarter, Northampton was strong again showing a three-pointer at the start.
Goodnow and Summers stepped up to bring the Generals back with 10 points.
But Northampton came back around with two more layups ending the game 39-49.
A lot of good communication and teamwork was shown on the court tonight, but Racicot noted things that will be worked on throughout the rest of the season.
“We are going to need to handle the ball better and take our time on offense. I think those two things are key right now,” he said.
Powell ran the court with six rebounds and three assists. Summers was not too far behind, also showing a great defense with five rebounds and two assists for the girl's team.
Looking ahead to next week the Generals face Springfield Central at home.
“Central has been good for the last eight years, they run a lot and they’re strong and big,” Racicot said. “So we’re going to have to hit a couple of those outside shots and bring the big kids out and hopefully, if we do that, we’ll take care of the ball.”
