SPRINGFIELD — A playoff environment in a game in early January isn’t something you see too often, but it came true on Travis Best Court at Springfield Central between the Golden Eagles and Chicopee Comp on Friday.
The game was personal for both teams as Springfield Central took a seven-point loss against Chicopee Comp just 15 days prior. Fast forward to Friday night, and Central packed its gym to the brim. An intense, fast-paced, physical game with big moments — none too big for Aden Cabrera, though.
With just under three seconds to go in the third quarter on Friday, the Golden Eagles were up eight points. Cabrera caught an inbound pass and seemed as if he just realized how little time was remaining, as he launched a prayer from 65 feet out, and it was pure off the backboard.
Central took full control of the game from then on, as the Golden Eagles flew over the Colts to a 84-63 Valley League victory.
“At the beginning of the season, I really didn’t even know my team,” Springfield Central coach Bill Watson said. “We were getting five second violations, we didn’t know how to line up for inbound plays. We were all over the place offensively, defensively, we were just a bunch of athletes running around. We’ll start looking more like a basketball team and we’ll start to execute everything. We have a standard. We’re not going to be satisfied until we get there. We have a long way to go.”
Down 10-6 with five minutes left in the first quarter, the Colts sprinted out to a 13-0 run led by Brody Fay, who knocked down a three and had an easy layup after breaking Central’s zone press. Colby Paul and Xavier Kleps also hit triples for Chicopee Comp in the run before Cabrera ended it with five points of his own, and overall the Golden Eagles finished the quarter on a 7-0 run.
The key missing piece to the first half for Central was forward Tahir Bey. The senior scored three quick points to start the game, but picked up two fouls just four minutes in. Watson and his coaching staff made the decision to keep Bey out until the second half, and it worked to perfection. Out of the half down 34-33, Bey made a smart decision to get his touch back in a one-on-one post drill with a coach at half time, and it paid off as he scored four points in the first minute.
“I just wanted to pick up for my team,” Bey said. “When I got subbed out, I trusted my boys. I trust them to get back in and maintain the pressure we put on them. When I got back in, I knew I was going to have to work.”
The work was impressive. A 9-2 Central run led by Cabrera and company boosted the Golden Eagles to a comfortable lead in the third quarter. Cabrera found his rhythm in the second half with 17 points, and 29 total on the night.
The 29 points from the senior guard tied his career-high dating back to a game on Feb. 2, 2024 when he was with Holyoke.
Zy’ere Brown also got going in with all seven of his points in the game coming in the third frame. Cabrera’s buzzer-beater ended the quarter and the Golden Eagles were soaring, outscoring the Colts 23-13 in the final quarter.
“One thing coming into the season, my challenge to Zy’ere was to not just settle for threes and to be a shooter. He’s a scorer,” Watson said. “So that means you can get to the basket and do things like that. The next piece is, what do you bring to the team if you’re not scoring. Can you defend? Can you rebound? I think he did a great job rebounding. He had a good game, and he probably doesn’t even know it yet.”
Bey finished the game with 17, with 14 coming in the second half.
“Tahir is what separates us from a lot of other teams,” Watson said. “We have that matchup down low, and we’re going to use it.”
Fay and Xavier Kleps scored 17 points apiece to pace the Colts, while Elijah Kleps also scored in double figures with 13.
Central improved to 4-2 and will face Putnam on Monday at 7 p.m., while Chicopee Comps dropped to 4-1 and looks to bounce back against Pope Francis, also on Monday at 7 p.m.
