MIAA basketball: Belchertown girls falter in D3 prelims to Saint Paul, 47-46

BELCHERTOWN — Facing a one-point deficit with 40 seconds left in the fourth quarter, the No. 29 Belchertown girls’ basketball desperately needed a bucket. After crawling back into a late-game comeback against No. 36 Saint Paul Diocesan in the preliminary round of the MIAA Division 3 tournament, the team looked for clutch-time heroics on Wednesday night.

The Orioles were up against a triangle-and-two defense from the Knights, with Aubrey Klingensmith and Morghan Litz being face-guarded in either corner. With the space opened up, the team looked to Maddy Slovack on the right wing.

Slovack took her defender off the dribble, getting to the hoop in a hurry and cashing in a layup to give her squad the lead at 46-45.

Now searching for a stop, Belchertown’s defense did well to contest back-to-back layups from under the hoop. The second miss fell to the floor, where both teams pounced for a jump-ball as possession stayed with Saint Paul.

The Knights got another contested look at the basket, making their third look for a 47-46 lead with 16 seconds remaining in the fourth. Back-to-back fouls against the Orioles left them with 7.6 to go, with the ball being inbounded on the sideline on the offensive end.

Slovack was the team’s target again, getting the ball in the same spot on the right wing. This time, she was defended well, forcing her to stay on the outside and heave up a last-second prayer.

The deep look fell short, with the buzzer sounding and giving Saint Paul a 47-46 victory.

“That showed a lot of mental acumen to be able to deal with the pressure again,” Belchertown head coach Jason Woodcock said. “To build a lead, lose it, get the lead back and have a chance to win at the end, it just says a lot. They’re young, and they’re going to make mistakes, and I’m not saying they did; it’s not always going to go their way, and it’s a good learning experience for all of them.”

After starting the game down 11-2, the Orioles stayed locked in, not letting the deficit get to them. It took three-and-a-half quarters for them to get their first lead of the night, but the fight the group showed was impressive.

Slovack played a huge role in Belchertown’s ability to keep the game within reach, turning it on offensively in the second half. The sophomore tallied 19 points on the night, tying her career high, with all of them coming in the final two quarters of play.

With Klingensmith being face-guarded for the majority of the final three quarters of play, Slovack’s scoring contributions were essential. Klingensmith embraced the role of being a distraction, battling on the defensive end to continue to make an impact.

“If you told me that [Klingensmith] would score three points, and we would still, as a team, score [46 points], I’d be like, that’s likely not going to happen,” Slovack said. “But credit to the others.”

With a young core that had one junior and four sophomores on the floor to end the game, the future is bright for the Orioles. They proved that no deficit is too large, with each player battling on both ends till the final buzzer sounded.

After losing two senior starters and a 1,000-point scorer last year, Belchertown was expected to have a down year. Instead, the team finished with the same record, a higher ranking in the state and a home playoff game.

Despite the heartbreaking loss on Wednesday, the team isn’t looking back on this season with any negativity.

“It’s my 18th year of doing this, and I told the girls this today, and repeatedly; I’ve never coached a better team,” Woodcock said. “I’ve coached teams with better wins, and Western Mass. [championships], whatever. These guys are such good teammates to each other, and such coachable kids, no egos, no issues. Coming to practice every day has been an absolute joy, and I’m going to be very sad not to be able to come to practice with these guys [on Thursday].”

Division 4

No. 22 Greater Lawrence Tech 72, No. 43 Smith Voc 24 — The Vikings were no match for the Reggies in their preliminary round loss.

Mallory Radwich led Smith Voc with six points.

Boys basketball

No. 22 Winthrop 81, No. 43 Smith Voc 51 — Dom Sanchez scored 21 points in the Vikings’ preliminary round loss.

Josh Cole added 13 points in Smith Voc’s season-ending defeat.

Hockey

Division 3

No. 33 Easthampton 2, No. 32 Dedham 1 (OT) — The Eagles extended their season with the preliminary round win in overtime.

Brayden Fennessy notched a goal and assist to lead Easthampton into the Round of 32. Wyatt Hunter (assist), Grayson Prevey-Catrambone (assist), Max Scribner (goal) also picked up points.

Goalie Tommy Bixby made 30 saves in net for the Eagles, who advance to play top-seeded Hanover on Thursday at 2:30 p.m.