HOLYOKE, Mass. – The Pittsfield girls basketball team fell short against South Hadley, 48-40, in the Western Massachusetts Class B Championship Game on Saturday at Holyoke Community College.
It was heartbreak for the second straight year as Pittsfield failed to get that final win in the Western Mass tournament. The Generals struggled on the offensive end to start the game but not for lack of good chances.
Pittsfield was able to get good looks from outside and with the surge of offensive rebounds they failed to put the ball in the hoop. It trailed after one quarter of play, 12-6, and was mainly able to keep itself in the game thanks to the defensive end in both the half court and in full court pressure. The Generals were able to turn South Hadley over and keep the game within striking distance.
Harolyn Castillo led the way for Pittsfield with nine points and Kyanna Summers added eight of her own. With no player scoring double digits, for the Generals it was always going to be a tough day keeping pace
with South Hadley.
In the second quarter the offensive struggles continued at the start, but midway through Pittsfield started to find their groove going on an 8-0 run to end the half including a big 3 from Asia Smith Moody just before the halftime buzzer to bring them within 2 points, 16-18.
Pittsfield continued that momentum into the third quarter, continuing to dominate the offensive glass only this time they were able to capitalize. The defensive pressure ramped up even more, keeping South Hadley scoreless for the first three minutes of the quarter.
Pittsfield grabbed its largest lead of the game, going up 27-20 and looking like it was going to run away with this one, but South Hadley had other ideas to start the fourth. The Tigers came out with a 5-0 run of their own to tie the game at 34 apiece.
These two teams continued to battle back and forth with both struggling to handle the full court pressure. Pittsfield had one more run in them to take a four point lead, but South Hadley took over late in the fourth with an 8-0 run to give them a 46-38 lead with just less than 2 minutes left to play.
Pittsfield will open the Division 3 State Tournament at home against North Reading as the No. 10 seed in the 32-team field.
