EASTHAMPTON — As the Easthampton girls basketball team prepared for a Western Mass. Class B quarterfinal contest against Frontier, another game was lingering in their minds — last year’s state tournament game with the Redhawks, where Frontier captured a 49-45 victory and sent the Eagles home stunned.

Though it was nearly a year ago, the Eagles didn’t forget.

“We do hold grudges,” Easthampton’s Maria Belfakih said. 

No. 3 Easthampton got its revenge against No. 6 Frontier in a frenetic game on Monday night, finishing with a 60-41 win.

Frontier’s Kylie Laford (15 points) and Claire Kirkendall (12) were the Redhawks’ leading scorers.

The game was much closer than the final scoreboard indicated. Frontier fell behind early but clawed and fought its way back all game long, pulling to within a single point early in the fourth quarter. That sent Easthampton scrambling. There are no moral victories in the Western Mass. tournament, but Frontier came pretty close on Monday.

“I’m so proud of the effort, honestly. To come that close with that team, it really kind of makes me believe that we are the team that we think we are and that we work so hard to be,” Frontier head coach Dave Machon said. “To get that close with these guys – I'll tell you right now, we’ll be rooting (Easthampton) on the whole way. So it felt good… we just couldn't hang on. But maybe next time.” 

The Redhawks (13-6) will play at South Hadley on Wednesday at 5 p.m. in a non-playoff game to close out the regular season before the MIAA Division 4 tourney.

It was a full circle moment for Easthampton and its senior class, which had never advanced past the first round of a postseason tournament until this year, despite all its successes over the last few years.

“I think before our freshman year, the girls didn't go to the playoffs for eight years. So for us to even make it past the first round, even to make it into the playoffs, is a really big accomplishment for us,” Easthampton’s Lauren Morse said. 

“It’s that underdog story,” Belfakih added.

Morse led the Eagles with 23 points, with Sophia Faginski (10) and Belfakih (9) providing some of the team's secondary scoring.

Frontier knew that it was going to have to pull something out of its bag of tricks in order to hang with the Eagles, especially missing Delaney Fifield. Machon had his team work on a press in the practices leading up to the quarterfinal, and it worked flawlessly against the Eagles for most of the game, forcing turnover after turnover.

Before Frontier’s press really got going, the Eagles sprinted out to a 13-2 lead that forced a Redhawks’ timeout with 4:44 left in the opening frame. Belfakih hit a pair of baskets and three other Eagles scored to give Easthampton the early lead. Everything was working — the plays, the execution, the passing. 

“Going back to chemistry, I do think that we just all know each other and we know where we're gonna be,” Belfakih said. “We know how each other plays and you can see that on the court.” 

After those first five minutes, Frontier rallied, finishing the first quarter on a 5-0 run to pull within eight points by quarter’s end.

Though Easthampton had a 17-9 lead after the first eight minutes, the hosts needed that first period boost for the rest of the half. Frontier’s press gave Easthampton fits, forcing turnover after turnover to give the visitors a chance to catch up. 

Frontier put together a couple of runs, but it couldn’t get closer than five points into halftime, as Easthampton held a 27-19 lead at intermission. 

The third quarter was when the Redhawks came up with their biggest push. Easthampton outscored Frontier 7-3 in the opening stages of the frame before the visitors rattled off a 10-0 run, bolstered by seven points from Kirkendall and a timely 3-pointer from Laford to pull within two points.

From there, it was game on. Frontier never took the lead, but it stayed within five points until the final four minutes of the game, when foul trouble and Easthampton’s passing was too much to keep up with. The Eagles finished on a 17-0 run over the last four and a half minutes to put things well out of reach.

The Eagles will play at No. 2 Wahconah in the Class B semifinals.

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