SPRINGFIELD — The Golden Eagles celebrated their freshman phenom’s major career milestone on Thursday and capped the night off with a a stellar defensive performance to clinch a statement victory.
No. 1 Springfield Central girls basketball tore past No. 2 Minnechaug in the second half, running away with a 62-39 victory.
At halftime of Thursdays game, the Golden Eagles celebrated Zi’Yan Wallace milestone achievement, having crossed 1,000 career points over the weekend in the Golden Eagles’ win over Thrive Charter (NJ) on Saturday.
Wallace began playing varsity basketball as a seventh-grader at the Springfield Renaissance School in 2023-2024 and quickly became one of the brightest girls basketball prospects in the state.
She earned All-Western Mass. First Team selections in each of the past two years. The Phoenix won back-to-back Western Mass. Class with Wallace, advancing to the Div. V state semifinals in 2024 and the state finals in 2025.
“I feel really great, I feel like I’m free to play in a way,” Wallace said after the game. “I don’t have anything to worry about, just scoring and rebounding… now that that big pedestal is out the way.”
Both teams started slow on offense, but the Golden Eagles scored first through Noelanni Ocana-Saunders. The hosts later stretched their lead to five, but back-to-back baskets by Zahara Wilson brought Minnechaug back within one with 2:10 left in the quarter.
But the Falcons’ run only expanded, with their press forcing the game into a chaotic pace that favored the visitors. A three-pointer from Wilson and the team’s tough-nosed defense helped fuel a 13-2 run to end the quarter, taking a 16-10 advantage into the second.
Momentum remained with the visitors as the second quarter began. The Falcons’ defense continued to cause the hosts problems, but the visitors’ offense began to slow down. Minnechaug maintained its distance until a three from Zi’Yan Wallace cut the lead to four with 2:10 left to go.
After Central earned a stop, Wallace missed her next attempt from three, but Mya Ocana-Saunders caught the rebound and sank the put back, making it a one possession game.
Wilson responded on the other end with a teardrop inside the paint, but Mya Ocana-Saunders kept on rolling. After draining a three to get within one, Ocana-Saunders put Central ahead with a three-point play the next time down the court.
She scored eight of her 10 first-half points in the second quarter alone, flipping the momentum and guided the Golden Eagles to a 27-23 advantage at halftime.
“Working hard, talking on defense, making sure you’re in help and just playing as a team,” Ocana-Saunders said on their improved play in the second quarter. “Making sure everything gets done so we can create steals and turnovers.
“I just felt like if I hit the shot, then it helped my team, and if I don’t, then my team will be there to help me rebound, put it back up and get a point regardless.”
Determined to get back into the game, the Falcons scored first in the second half on a three from Ava Manning.
But this would be the closest Minnechaug would get, as the Golden Eagles took apart the Falcons’ defense, quickly expanded. Mya Ocana-Saunders continued to shine, combining with Mars for 13 of the Golden Eagles’ 22 third-quarter points as Central’s lead ballooned to double-digits.
“The difference was the intensity that we came out with,” Mars said. “… we didn’t start off bad, but we did start off a bit sloppy and slow. We were rushing ourselves and just not running the plays right. Just overdoing a lot of things. We talked about it and slowed down.”
The Falcons could not stop the Golden Eagles roll in the fourth. The hosts’ lead snowballed as Central cruised to a 23-point victory. Mars and Ocana-Saunders each finished with 17 points, with Wallace adding 12 points.
“They’re starting to gel, (but) we’re not peaking (and) we’re not where we need to be,” Central girls basketball coach James Gee said. “There are still a lot of chemistry (to build), things we need to work on as a team within our schemes and sets.”
Central (6-1) will look to build on this win when the Golden Eagles take on No. 3 Pittsfield on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.
Minnechaug (4-1) will look to bounce back from this loss when the Falcons take on Wachusett on Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 7 p.m.
“Credit goes to Central, they’re obviously the best team out here,” Minnechaug girls basketball coach Ryan Minns said. “We’re trying to get to their level and we got to learn from this situation.
“I thought we played excellent basketball for probably 14 minutes of the game and then it got away from us to end the second quarter, (but) we’re only down four at the half… but sometimes you run into a really good team. Central’s excellent, they’re going to do really good things.
“It’s not a restart, honestly… good or bad, it’s a long season. If we were to win this game, we weren’t going to have a pizza party, we were going to come to practice tomorrow. And if we end up losing it, we’re not going to start breaking stuff in the locker room, because we got practice tomorrow. It’s a long season, this is what (our) league is this season and it’s fun. Glad we got a few wins early… but we’re not going to get too high, we’re not going to get too low. We get back to work tomorrow.”
