The West girls basketball team has taken the Bay State Games by storm in recent years. 

After winning the gold medal last year, West returned a majority of its roster this year as it looked to take home a second straight gold medal this past weekend at Emmanuel College. 

West opened the tournament with a pair of wins on Friday and followed it up with victories over Southeast (51-30) and Northeast (66-32) on Saturday and Metro (70-45) on Sunday to secure a spot in the gold medal game on Sunday, where it faced off against Metro for the second time.

Unlike the first game of the day in which West controlled things from start to finish, Metro made sure the second time around wouldn’t be so easy. Metro cut the lead to two points in the final five minutes — the first time they was tested late in a game — but West turned it on late to pull away with a 61-51 victory and secure its second straight gold medal. 

“It was a good day and a good tournament,” West head coach Ralph Loos said. “It was nice we played the same team back-to-back. We blew them out the first game but they showed up and fought hard in the second game. It was nerve-racking. It was a punch in the face but we responded well. It was good to have a competitive game.” 

In West’s first game against Metro South Hadley’s Drew Alley led the way with 17 points. Amherst’s Tessa Kawall scored 16 points, Greenfield’s Amber Bergeron tossed in 11 points and Chicopee’s Blaize Mack recorded nine points in the victory. 

In the win over Southeast on Saturday Bergeron led the way with 11 points, Mack finished with nine points, Amherst’s Audrey Bowen tossed in eight points while fellow Hurricane Niyami Adadevoh tallied six points.

In the victory over Northeast, Easthampton’s Kayley Downie had a team-high nine points, Monson’s Olivia Chrzan and Williston’s Margaret Edwards each scored eight points, Kawall scored seven points, Granby’s Aubrey Parent finished with six points and Amherst’s Sara Hastie knocked down a 3. 

While no MVP award was given, Loos, who is the head girls coach at Amherst High School, said there was one player who consistently stood out throughout the tournament. 

“Give special recognition to Drew Alley,” Loos said. “She was phenomenal and the best player in the gym all weekend. She gave an incredible effort. I can’t say enough about how she played.” 

It wasn’t just a one player effort that got the job done, however. While an All Star team, the players came together in a short period of time and developed the needed chemistry on the court to take home a second straight gold. 

“It felt special because of the way we played,” Loos said. “We played so well. They really gelled as a team. That’s the tricky part when you put an All Star team together – you know they have talent but you just hope the pieces fit together and they did. We did stuff off the court, too, which was fun. For me the last game with all those Amherst kids was emotional. It was great to once again be part of this.” 

 The two gold medals are proof that Western Mass. basketball teams can compete with the rest of the state, and Loos said he hopes the recent trend of success can continue.

“If we’re going to go there we might as well put the time and effort in and represent the best possible version of ourselves as we can,” Loos said. “We do that for the teams that came before us and for the teams that will come after us. That’s one of the main reasons I keep doing it. This is my fifth time coaching this team and there haven’t been a ton of gold medals for the West. It’s nice to go back-to-back.” 

]]>