NORTHAMPTON — After scoring 70 points in each of its last two games, the 9-1 Northampton girls basketball team couldn’t have been playing better entering Thursday night’s heavyweight matchup with 9-2 Central.

The Blue Devils’ two best players, Ava Azzaro and Bri Heafey, were each coming off three terrific games in a row as well. There wasn’t a more perfect time to welcome the Golden Eagles to their home floor.

But Central wasted no time asserting itself, as the Golden Eagles came out swinging.

Behind forward Angela Hector (19 points) and guard Jai-Lyn Garvin Martin (15 points) and all-around relentless defensive pressure, Central held Northampton to three single-digit scoring quarters (first, second and third). The Blue Devils couldn’t overcome their offensive struggles in a 52-33 loss on Thursday night.

“They’re too quick and good, and for us, I keep telling my team, ‘We ain’t gonna beat them scoring in the 30s,’” Northampton head coach Perry Messer said. “We gotta start putting up 45, 50 points against them. Because we’ll work on defense. You think about it tonight, it wasn’t like they scored a ton of points against us. I was happy with my kids efforts, it’s not like they don’t play hard. We’ve just gotta learn from it and get better.”

Hector made her presence felt immediately, scoring eight of her 19 in the first five minutes of the game. Northampton’s Anna Oravec and everyone else who tried guarding Hector did just about all they could, but her strength and athleticism was too much to handle.

“She’s a great player, and we knew that coming in,” Northampton senior captain Ava Azzaro said. “We put our freshman on her who’s taller, but [Hector] is really good and she’s experienced and advanced. We wanted to be physical but play straight up – just do whatever we can to slow her down.”

Northampton fell behind 18-6 after the first quarter but never blinked. Right out of the gates in the second, Azzaro scored four of her 10 points to lead a quick 6-0 run to cut the Blue Devils’ deficit in half.

Central didn’t score a point until Garvin-Martin buried her first of four 3s with 4:15 to go in the second quarter – the Golden Eagles’ first points of the frame. Garvin-Martin then hit two more and was responsible for all nine Central points in the period.

That 6-0 Northampton run disappeared and the deficit fell back down to 12 at halftime (27-15).

“[Hector] was too good and too physical, and she cleaned up a lot of those misses,” Messer said. “That was a big part of the game. And [Garvin-Martin] made a ton of 3s for them.”

An 18-7 third-quarter disparity saw the Central lead grow to 23 going into the fourth quarter, with most of its points coming off Northampton turnovers or at the charity stripe.

Messer noticed plenty of gaps in the Golden Eagles’ trap, but his players didn’t. And Central’s physicality wore the Blue Devils down as the game progressed.

“We got to want to get to the middle of the floor,” Messer said. “The high post was wide open and our young players didn’t get themselves in a position where they were ready to accept the ball, or if they did, they waited for the pass and the little bumps weren’t getting called. So the ball gets turned over and they’re running out.”

As is the case with most home underdogs, Northampton wouldn’t go away quietly. Oravec converted a layup and Chloe Derby banked home a jumper to start the fourth quarter, and Teagan McDonald and Bri Heafey buried triples as part of a 10-1 Northampton run in the opening minutes. The 23-point shortage turned to 14 in the blink of an eye.

However, the Blue Devils then only scored one point, a Liv Joensen free throw, the remainder of the game.

Spurts like the 6-0 run in the second and 10-1 run in the fourth gave Northampton some encouragement and confidence for when the Blue Devils travel down to Springfield for a rematch with Central next week.

“We kept our heads in it, and stuck together and picked each other up,” Azzaro said. “I think that really helped. We found some stuff that worked, and I think that’s important for the next time we play them. We just have to keep a positive mindset, because toward the end of the game everyone is tired and run down. But we just have to keep going, and I think that’s gonna be the key if we wanna win.”

Azzaro’s 10 points led the way, while Oravec added eight points, Heafey scored six and Derby chipped in five.

A ton of Northampton’s younger players saw significant minutes on the court on Thursday – their first true taste of highly competitive basketball. Messer’s message to them about not putting their heads down after one game was straightforward.

“Stick our nose in there and compete like we always do,” he said. “I’m playing five freshmen, and it’s the first time they’ve faced that kind of quickness and that strength. We’ll get there. We’re not defined by what happened tonight, we’re defined by how we respond. We’ll come back and we’ll get them one of these days.”

Northampton (9-2) hosts Holyoke on Monday night at 7:30 p.m.

Holyoke 38, West Springfield 29 – The Purple Knights earned the season sweep of the Terriers via a victory on Thursday.

Holyoke (3-9) received 17 points apiece from Kiara Perez and Amilyan Treadwell-Mercedes.

Smith Voc 48, Commerce 14 – Makayla Tatro poured in a game-high 20 points, and the Vikings’ defense once again clamped down for a decisive victory on Thursday.

Smith Voc led 14-3 after one quarter, and the squad held Commerce off the board completely in the third quarter via a 12-0 edge.

Sofia Zina scored in double figures with 11 points for the Vikings, while Jayanna Daniels (five points), Annalise Kaczenski (four) and Molly Smith (four) also aided the offensive effort.

Granby 74, Baystate Academy 42 – Holding a seven-point halftime lead, the Rams outscored Baystate Academy 23-5 in the third quarter to pull away for a decisive win.

Aubrey Parent led all scorers with 20 points for Granby, while Autumn Sicard (13 points) and Kalli White (12) also scored in double figures on the night.

Frontier 56, Mahar 41 – Skyler Steele finished with 12 points, in addition to some lockdown defense, while Claire Kirkendall scored 11 points and Hailey Hutkoski tossed in 10 points to power the Redhawks to a win.

Boys basketball

Smith Voc 67, Hampden West 50 – Big nights from Dom Sanchez and Joshua Cole powered the Vikings to a lopsided win.

Sanchez and Cole each scored 20 points for Smith Voc, which halted a two-game losing streak with the win. Jack Riley made it three players in double figures with 10 points.

Alpine ski

Keller Mahoney skied toward the top of the leaderboard for the second time this week, posting a second-place finish in the boys’ giant slalom during the fifth PVIAC meet of the season at Berkshire East in Charlemont on Thursday afternoon.

Mahoney’s time – which was the best of any Hampshire County boy – of 31.36 seconds trailed only Weston Den Ouden of Mohawk Trail (30.48).

Hampshire’s Jon Dunn took home fifth place as he crossed the finish line in 32.46, and teammate Billy Warren was close behind at 32.79, which was good for seventh place on Thursday. Brandon Couture (18th, 35.29) and Brad Hockenberry (22nd, 35.66) also cracked the top 25 for the Raiders.

The Scott brothers led PVCICS’ team, with Teddy Scott (34.05) grabbing 12th place and James Scott (34.30) taking 14th place.

Amherst’s Alex Cain was the top finisher for the ’Canes as he took home 20th in a time of 35.50. Jonah Abel-Waisman (25th, 36.43) of Northampton was the only other local participant inside the top 25.

On the girls’ side, PVCICS’ Sarah Fardal once again set the pace for Hampshire County. Her time of 50.69 seconds was good for sixth place in the slalom on Thursday.

Hazel Scully-Henry (9th, 53.21) and Dana Warren (10th, 53.30) turned in a pair of top 10-finishes for Hampshire Regional.

Northampton had a busy day with five participants cracking the top 25, led by Maeve Skelton’s 14th-place finish (56.25). Simone Pigar (16th, 57.46), Camilla Hatch (20th, 59.45), Zivia Parikh (23rd, 1:01.73) and Giselle Ohm (25th, 1:02.54) also had strong days for the Blue Devils.

Anne Haugsjaahabink was Amherst’s top finisher of the race, taking home 28th place with a time of 1:03.38.

Boys hockey

Amherst 1, East Longmeadow 1 – Cooper Beckwith staked the Hurricanes to a 1-0 lead in the third period, but the Spartans tied the game late to secure a tie on Thursday at Orr Rink in Amherst.

Sawyer Ferro assisted on Beckwith’s goal, which came with 5:43 left in the third period. East Longmeadow (5-6-1) tied the game with less than three minutes to play to secure the tie.

Amherst, which now sits at 10-4-1 on the season, is off until next Wednesday when it travels to Taconic.