BELCHERTOWN ― The Rams continue to prove themselves as one of the top teams in the region.
No. 13 Southwick girls basketball clinched its sixth straight win to open the season on Friday, defeating No. 17 Belchertown, 56-39.
Kina Roy opened the night with a three-point shot for Belchertown, but the Rams equalized a minute later through Avery Burkholder, completing a three-point play at the rim.
The Orioles struggled after making their opening shot and the Rams took advantage. Southwick took the lead on a layup from Hazel Olsen in the fifth minute off an assist from Lily Coleman.
Olsen was key to the Rams’ early success, scoring six of their 11 points. But the Orioles closed the gap late in the quarter and entered the second trailing, 11-9.
The Orioles’ momentum carried over into the second, leveling the score quickly before Aubrey Klingensmith scored at the rim to put Belchertown back in front.
On the next trip down, Klingensmith intercepted a loose pass and scored in transition. The Orioles held the Rams down until Gabby Slovack’s short jumper put Belchertown ahead, 17-11, with 4:40 left to force a Southwick timeout.
Neither side scored initially after the timeout, but the Rams stopped their drought on a basket by Madelyn Burkholder off a nifty bounce pass from Tamia Ortiz with three minutes remaining in the half.
After getting a stop, Olsen set up Avery Burkholder with an open three-point shot off the curl and she nailed the basket, bringing Southwick within one.
The Rams ultimately held Belchertown scoreless through the end of the half, using a 10-0 run to take a 21-17 advantage into halftime.
Morghan Litz opened the second half with a basket for the Orioles, but a three from Madelyn Burkholder restored Southwick’s two-possession lead a minute later.
Madelyn Burkholder and Olsen carried the Rams in the third quarter, with Avery Burkholder orchestrating their offense and setting them up with open opportunities. Madelyn sank two more threes and Olsen added two more baskets as well as the Rams took control of the game.
“One thing that people don’t really understand is that Avery is an amazing passer as well as an amazing scorer,” Southwick girls basketball coach Tiara Johnson said. “We know and she knows that her getting 1,000 points is important and I knew that there was going to be a hyper fixation on her tonight, but other people can score and we have the opportunities to get players like Hazel (and) Madelyn wide-open shots.”
A pair of threes from Roy kept the Orioles within striking distance heading into the fourth, trialing by seven.
But the Rams quickly pushed their lead into double-digits in the final quarter thanks to a three-point play from Avery Burkholder, finishing in transition. Olsen extended the lead to 12 on the next possession after a Belchertown turnover, leading to a timeout.
Madelyn Burkholder drained her fourth three-pointer of the night shortly after the timeout, expanding the Rams’ lead to 15. They maintained control until the final whistle, holding onto a double-digit victory.
Avery Burkholder and Hazel Olsen finished with 16 points each to lead the Rams, with Madelyn Burkholder providing 14 points. Avery now sits at 994 career points and will get a chance to crack the 1,000-point club in Southwick’s (6-0) next game at home against Westfield on Monday, Jan. 12 at 7 p.m.
“I knew that that’s the only way our offense will work, if I set screens, move around (and) cut,” Olsen said of her season-high scoring performance. “I knew I needed to do that in order for us to be able to have a successful offense.”
The Rams earned their first win over Belchertown in over 18 years, sporting an 0-12 record against the Orioles in that time span.
“We’re really excited, but we also know that we have to stay locked in,” Avery Burkholder said. “We practice on Sunday and we’re going to get ready for Westfield now.”
“This game was a lot more difficult, I haven’t really seen anyone face guard me yet,” Avery Burkholder said. “Usually I have a lot more open shots, so today was just about making sharp, hard movements, like backdoor cuts, face cutting to the ball and then looking for the open player. They were focused on me at times, so someone was open.”
Belchertown (3-4) will look to bounce back when the Orioles visit Chicopee on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.
“We had a horrible shooting night, horrible. We’re a pretty good shooting team most of the time and we really struggled,” Belchertown girls basketball coach Jason Woodcock said.
“We tried to bring the ball in and we work on that (but) we could not buy a basket from anywhere. We had trouble shooting the ball, but then we would kind of right ourselves and claw back… give the girls a day off tomorrow, we’re just going regroup a little bit. Season’s five weeks old, let’s take a breather and we’ll come back at it on Monday.”
