WESTFIELD – The average sports fan wouldn’t suspect a middle school gym to be the site of a great high school basketball game.
However, it was at South Middle School last night, where fans were treated to a barn burner, as the 2-7 Saints of St. Mary’s High School faced off against the 6-5 Golden Hawks of Dean Technical High School in Holyoke in boys’ basketball. The Saints ultimately fell 57-45.
Fueled by a rabid, full court press, the Golden Hawks ball hawked their way to a 15-11 first quarter lead, behind the interior muscle of Jaime Joquin and Christian Herrea. However, the Saints would storm back to take a 28-26 lead behind 10 points from junior Matt Plasse, who went on to have a splendid evening for the home team.
Going into the second half, the Saints carried the momentum, maintaining a single point lead for the first few minutes of the third. But Dean Tech woke up as the quarter wound down. The Golden Eagles went on a tear, led by guard Reynaldo Espada, who finished with 15 points, and harassed St. Mary’s guards the whole evening.
Espada’s big second half propelled Dean Tech to a 22-2 lead that blew the game wide open. Saints’ coach Tom Sheridan did his best to stop the bleeding, attempting to slow the tempo by shuffling players and calling timeouts. But turnovers would be his team’s undoing.
“The four turnovers to end the (third quarter) led to 8 points, and before you knew it, they had us by 12” Sheridan said. “The fourth quarter turnovers really did us in tonight.”
He was also quite positive, praising his team’s overall effort. “This was the best end to end performance we’ve had all season. It was the best 3 ½ quarters we’ve played yet.”
Plasse, who led the hosts with 19 points, was also impressed by the Saints’ effort. “We’ve had a rough start, but there’s plenty of time for us to improve. Tonight just wasn’t our night.”
The Golden Eagles were led by Espada’s 15, and forward Christian Herrea’s 17. Plasse paced the hosts with 19, including three big first half 3-pointers.
