Before Jan. 23, Minnechaug had dropped four of its last five games. The Falcons’ star player, Miles Fergus had been out the past three games, and things were looking downhill.
Miles returned to play against Northampton, and while he looked solid, his younger brother Max, was the real hero. Max dropped 21 points in a 54-50 victory over Northampton on the road Friday night.
“The two brothers are tremendous,” Minnechaug coach Mike Orzech said. “They certainly are very talented individuals, and when the game’s on the line, I want the ball in their hands making plays for us.”
The first eight minutes of the game happened in a blur; only one combined foul was committed, and there were rarely any stoppages due the pace of play. Brayden Nichols-Staples drained back-to-back triples in the first frame, but the Falcons were more efficient and created enough points off of live ball turnovers to be up 16-10.
Down 22-18 in the second, Northampton got hot. Nathan Lupert hit a deep two and Nichols-Staples followed with a corner three to go up 26-22. Isaiah Brown finished a tough layup and drew the foul to hype up the Falcons crowd, and while he missed the free throw, Minnechaug got the rebound back to find Brown for another layup as it ended the half on a 12-2 run.
The Falcons were faulting in the half-court for most of the first half, but Max got going in the third quarter. In a multiple possession deficit, the sophomore brought the Falcons back into the game with seven out of the team’s nine points in a 9-2 run.
“I just got to be more patient in the first half,” Max said. “ I was rushing my shots. The second half we got into our stuff and got easy buckets.”
Tied at 38 a piece, the Blue Devils yet again finished a quarter strong and led 48-40. The Falcons needed stops, and got more than stops — they clamped Northampton in the final frame. The Blue Devils scored just two points in the fourth, and fell short of a win. Max hit a game-leading triple with 2:40 remaining, made a free throw shortly after, and on the next possession Miles drilled a mid-range jumper to go up 54-50, sailing to victory.
“We ramped up full court pressure,” Orzech said when talking about the fourth quarter success. “We did a good job when they did break the pressure of getting back and matching up on defense, and that was the key. We did a better job on the boards and not giving them second chance opportunities,”
Miles had seven points on the night, but most importantly was able to get back to playing basketball.
“It’s awesome to be back out here,” Miles said. “We’re just trying to get wins. Now, the focus is winning a state championship, and that’s what we’re moving towards right now.”
Minnechaug improves to 7-5 and plays Amherst in a big matchup on Tuesday at 7 p.m., while Northampton faces Longmeadow away on Tuesday, also at 7 p.m.
