Cookis, Steinman Lead Pittsfield Girls into Western Mass Final
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AMHERST, Mass. -- Pittsfield senior Trinity Cookis gave her team the boost it needed in the fourth quarter with her 3-point shooting Tuesday evening in the semi-finals of the Division 2 Western Massachusetts Tournament.
Pittsfield advanced to the finals with a 66-52 victory at the Curry Hicks Cage at the University of Massachusetts.
The No. 2-seeded Generals (19-3), who trailed by two points to No. 6 Quabbin (14-8) going into the final eight minutes, took over the lead in the first minutes. First, Bella Aitken tied it at 44, and the next possession down Cookis hit her first 3-pointer of the quarter to put the score at 47-44.
In the final four minutes Cookis put one up from 3-point range again, sinking it and extending the Generals' lead, and she hit one more, making it 55-47, before Quabbin called timeout with 3 minutes, 41 seconds left on the clock.
“I’m a senior, I didn’t want it to be my last game,” Cookis said. “This is my last chance at winning a championship, so I just really wanted it, and the talk in the locker room at half really pumped us up.”
In the first half Quabbin’s height down low from Mary Parslow was a challenge for the Generals; she led her team with 25 points and helped them hold a 14-9 lead after the first quarter and a 30-29 lead going into half.
Pittsfield’s zone defense made it easy for Parslow to use her height and get open to put of the easy shots under the hoop.
“At half-time, we switched up some defenses, and we wanted to put more pressure on their shooters,” Pittsfield coach Joe Racicot said. “The Parslow kid is tough there’s no doubt about that, so we restricted her from a lot of free shots so things worked out pretty well.”
Pittsfield held Quabbin to only eight points in the fourth quarter while scoring 24.
Sophomore Peyton Steinman joined Cookis in knocking down 3s, as well, helping the Generals pull away from the Panthers in those final minutes to seal the win and a trip the finals.
“When they’re on, they’re on,” Racicott said. “They just did a little rotation today, which we needed badly to come back, so as long as somebody’s hot we’ll find them.”
Steinman finished with 19 points and Cookis was right behind her with 17, Lauren Carnevale had eight, and Allie Hunt had nine.
Pittsfield will play Saturday afternoon in the Division 2 finals at the UMass Cage. The Generals' opponent will be determined on Wednesday when top-seeded Longmeadow (15-6) meets Belchertown (13-8).