WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The Mount Greylock boys basketball team held Monument Mountain to nine points in a pivotal third quarter Saturday en route to a 60-49 win that gave the Mounties their 10th straight victory and the Berkshire County South Division title.

 

Four different Mounties scored in an 8-0 run to end the third quarter that allowed Mount Greylock to open a nine-point lead against a Monument Mountain team that fought the Mounties tooth and nail most of the afternoon.

 

“[The Spartans] were lights out,” Mount Greylock coach Bob Thistle said. “They didn't miss in the first half. There were some things we felt we could do better to get out on shooters. But we tip our cap to them. They shot the ball well in the first half. But like I told our kids in the first half: We withstood that run. I thought we could have been down eight, 10, 12 points in the first half.

 

“But the kids regrouped.”

 

Mount Greylock (12-4) made some adjustments defensively in the second half, doing a better job of getting out on shooters like it wanted to do from the get-go, Thistle said.

 

The change allowed the Mounties to take the game’s first double-digit lead, 46-36, on a Cameron Hadley free throw to start the fourth quarter.

 

The Spartans (10-7) used a 6-0 run midway through the fourth to make it a two-score game when David Riegel (11 points) was fouled in transition and hit a pair of free throws with 1 minute, 40 seconds on the clock to get his team within four at 53-49.

 

But those were the last points Mount Greylock allowed.

 

Meanwhile, Sean McCormack (22 points, 17 rebounds) scored in the post to start an 8-0 run to end the game for the Mounties.

 

Mount Greylock earned four trips to the line in the final minute, going 5-for-8 at the stripe and ending the game on a pair from Patrick Storie (seven points, five assists).

 

Four players finished in double figures for Monument, led by Kevin Troiano’s 13 points and eight rebounds. Joe Aberdale had 11 points and eight boards, and Riegel and Daniel Newey scored 11 and 10, respectively.

 

McCormack’s 22 led all scorers, but the Mounties got nine points on three 3-pointers from Toby Foehl, and Sam Dils and Storie each scored seven.

 

Dils and Brady Foehl each scored five in the decisive third quarter.

 

Mount Greylock continues a run of five games in eight days on Monday when it hosts Lenox.

 

“We're excited,” Thistle said. “We've won 10 in a row, which is a hard thing to do, and we're playing good ball at the right time.

 

“I'm really proud of the kids. To go from 2-4, which is where we started the season, to 12-4, is a great thing. We just have to keep going and try to better our seed for Western Mass.”

 

Monument Mountain, which has lost two of its last three after winning six in a row, looks to regain its momentum on Sunday night in a makeup game at Lenox.