Generals Storm Past Hamp with Suffocating Defense
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Bre’Jai Ellerbee and Caprese Conyers each scored 19 points, and the Pittsfield girls basketball team Monday used a 19-0 third-quarter run to pull away for a 64-47 win over Northampton.
As has been the case the last couple of years for the Generals, defense was the key to victory.
Pittsfield forced eight turnovers during the decisive run, which started with the Blue Devils holding a 27-21 lead and ended with a Conyers steal at one end and Conyers layup at the other with an assist from Kyana Summers at the other to give Pittsfield a 40-27 lead with about two minutes left in the quarter.
After Hamp’s Emme Calkins (19 points) converted an and-one to break the run, Pittsfield mounted a 13-3 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters to give the hosts a 53-33 lead when Asia Smith-Moody scored in transition with an assist from Conyers.
“We just knew that we had to come out in the second half a lot stronger,” said Summers, who finished with nine steals, nine rebounds and six assists – all team highs. “The way we were playing defense before, it wasn’t our game. So we needed to pick it up as we usually do.”
Pittsfield avenged a 55-50 loss to Valley League rival Northampton and bolstered its case heading into this month’s Division 3 State Tournament.
The Generals started the day as the second-ranked team statewide in D3 according to the latest MIAA in-season power rankings. Hamp came to town as the No. 11 team in Division 2.
And, in the early going, the Blue Devils matched Pittsfield blow-for-blow.
The Generals got the game’s first working margin after a 3 and a field goal by Ellerbee, both assisted by Harolyn Castillo (11 points, nine rebounds) made it 18-10 early in the second quarter.
But Northampton rallied with a 10-2 run to end the half that started with a pair of buckets by Annalise Oravec (19 points).
Calkins’ 3-pointer to open the second half started Hamp on a 7-1 spurt to take a 27-21 lead.
From then on, it was all Pittsfield.
Castillo and Conyers had multiple steals, mostly out of the press, in the 19-0 stretch that established a double-digit lead the Generals never would lose.
“We told them at half-time – you tell every team at half-time – it’s 0-0,” Pittsfield coach Kristy Conyers said. “Even though it was 20-20, it’s still tied, 0-0. We had to come out with our defensive pressure, with our hands out and no fouls.
“First half, we were in foul trouble. We played through it. But we told them, ‘Come out and play our game in the second half, which we started that out in the third quarter.’ “
Back on Jan. 8 in Northampton, the Blue Devils owned the second half, particularly the fourth quarter, when they outscored the Generals by 11 to take a five-point win.
Coach Conyers said the loss in the first meeting was in the back of her team’s mind.
“I think it was a double whammy,” she said. “They were our first loss of the season, and [Monday] was Senior Night. And I think everyone knows – coaches, social media outlets – Senior Night, with all the emotions, can go either way.
“And they held their composure. And they knew they wanted to get their ‘W’ from losing to them and to get a ‘W’ on Senior Night.”
Ellerbee, Madison Stetz, Castillo and Summers were recognized pregame in their final regular season game on East Street.
But the Generals (11-4) have plenty of games left to play, starting Wednesday at Wahconah and, if they better or even improve their ranking in the state, PIttsfield would be home through the quarter-finals of the state tournament, where last year, it advanced to the Final Four as a No. 5 seed.