Published in the Daily Hampshire Gazette on March 7, 2015
AMHERST — The Belchertown girls basketball team had a six-point lead with 31.5 seconds left in the Western Massachusetts Division 2 Tournament final when coach Jay Woodcock told sophomore Cara McKenzie she had made the play of the game.
The 6-foot-2 center blocked No. 2 Pittfield’s Lauren Carnevale in the post and grabbed the rebound. McKenzie dished the ball off to senior Téa Spellacy, who quickly drew a foul and went to shoot free throws, giving Woodcock a chance to pull her aside.
“I didn’t know how to respond,” McKenzie said. “When you get (the block), there’s like a rush. I don’t know how to describe it, it’s such a great feeling.”
It was a key stop and Spellacy hit both free throws, then added three more in the final seconds to secure a 54-43 win and the No. 5 Orioles’ first basketball championship at Curry Hicks Cage Saturday.
“Play of the game, I thought at that moment in time,” Woodcock said. “I told the girls before the game that history was in front of them, we had a chance to do something very special and they performed. They did it.”
Belchertown (15-8) will face Central Massachusetts winner Medfield (18-5) in the state semifinal at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at the MassMutual Center in Springfield. The Generals finished the season at 18-4.
Spellacy, a senior captain, finished with a career-high 32 points.
“My goal was to get to the Cage. I never thought we’d win two games at the Cage and to finish off my senior year, winning at the Cage is incredible,” Spellacy said. “I never thought we’d be the first team to bring back a Western Mass. championship.”
To claim the title, Belchertown switched out of its zone defense that had secured the first two tournament wins and played tough man-to-man. The switch was felt instantly and helped to contain the Generals’ sharp shooters as Carnevale was held to six points. Peyton Steinman scored 17 to lead Pittsfield, while the General defense couldn’t slow Spellacy.
“We had to go with our five main defenders in. They did it. They were incredible,” Woodcock said. “Emma Jopson, who does not light up the stat sheet, played phenomenal defense on Peyton Steinman. Cara McKenzie, game-changer again. … She was huge, just huge.”
Belchertown found itself trailing 8-0 with 5 minutes, 25 seconds left in the first quarter when Woodcock called timeout and ditched the zone defense in favor of man-to-man coverage. It worked as the Orioles quickly tied it and jousted with Pittsfield to a 16-16 tie at the quarter’s end.
“Slow start, down 8-0. We must have missed our first six, seven free throws,” Woodcock said. “We had chances to separate, but they clawed back.”
Spellacy hit back-to-back buckets, the second a floater from the back of the lane to put the Orioles up 22-19 with 3:41 left before halftime. The Generals closed on a 6-2 run to take a 25-24 lead into halftime.
“We were in a good spot I thought (at halftime). It was all about playing D,” Woodcock said. “We have five very good man defenders if we want to put them all out there. We had to ride all their minutes late.”
After four minutes of play in the third quarter, only two points had been added — one apiece — as both sides missed easy buckets.
Jopson hit a floater to give Belchertown a 27-26 lead with 1:37 left and Spellacy extend it to 30-28 with a buzzer-beating layup on the run.
“(Spellacy) played within the flow of it,” Woodcock said. “She got everyone else involved but tonight, she’s a superstar. She led us to victory. She wasn’t forcing it. It was all good takes.”
The Orioles never trailed in the fourth. Trinity Cooks hit a 3-pointer from the right side to pull the Generals within 36-35, but Kayla Henry (10 points) countered with one of her own with 5:30 remaining. Henry followed the play with a quick steal and assist to Spellacy for a layup and 41-35 lead, forcing a Pittsfield timeout with 4:21 to go.
“We were talking (at breaks) about how we have to give it all our heart,” McKenzie said. “When you work hard, the shots will fall, the defense will be better. We all just gave 100 percent out there and that really showed in the score.”
With the Orioles up 45-35, Steinman hit a deep 3 from the right wing and followed with two shots from the line to pull Pittsfield within five and 2:32 to play. But the game ended at the line for both sides. Spellacy went 9 for 10, while Pittsfield’s Steinman and Allie Hunt combined for 3 of 4.
“When there were like 18 seconds left, I was like, ‘Oh my god, I’m going to be a Western Mass. champ in a few seconds,’” Spellacy said. “I don’t think anything has felt better than this. I was on a (WMass championship) soccer team, but this is better than that.”