WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- They have not yet gotten around to hanging up the championship banners in Mount Greylock’s renovated gymnasium.
On Monday afternoon, the job got a little harder.
Sean McCormack scored 19 points, and Brady Foehl passed out five assists to lead the Mounties to a 68-50 win over Lee that clinched a share of the Berkshire County South Division Championship.
“I always say the season is a long time,” Mounties coach Bob Thistle said. “I can't remember what December was like, but it was a long time ago. Fourteen games on the road, really -- away from this building. Sean out for most of those. To still have a share of the South title is a good feeling.
“Now we have our Senior Night [Wednesday], which will be emotional. We have seven guys, a lot of them have been responsible for taking us to the Cage back-to-back seasons, so that will be our next goal.”
Mount Greylock (13-6) will look to take a nine-game winning streak into the post-season with a Wednesday win over South Hadley.
The Mounties last loss was its last game without McCormack, who started the season battling lingering injuries from football season and ended up missing more than half the year.
“He's a big force in the middle,” Lee coach Jason Bliss said. “He's a big kid, strong, has great post moves.”
Bliss said he had hoped his Wildcats (7-11) could play spoilers in the Mounties’ title bid and give a solo crown to Monument Mountain. But, either way, he expects the county to be well-represented in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 tournament that gets under way next week.
“I wish them all the luck in the world in the tournament,” Bliss said of Mount Greylock. “They're a great team. They should do well. Monument and them in the D3, that's they're biggest obstacle right now for both of them. I see a Berkshire County D3 final if the seedings go the way they should.”
On Monday, Mount Greylock took control with an 12-0 run in the first quarter and extended its lead with a 23-point second.
Cole Wojtkowski scored four of his 14 points to spur the 12-0 run, which ended on a McCormack bucket in the post to make it 19-5 with about a minute left in the first quarter.
In the second quarter, McCormack scored 10 points, and Toby Foehl (13 points) knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to help send the Mounties to the locker room with a 42-21 lead.
Toby Foehl came out of the locker room with another 3 to start a 13-2 run that pushed the lead to 32 points when Sam Dils set up Wojtkowski for a basket to make it 55-23.
It stayed a 30-point margin until the fourth-quarter, when Thistle rested his starters and Lee’s Ben Harding scored eight of his team-high 17.
If Bliss is correct and the Mounties are poised for a long run in the sectional tournament, a portion of the credit goes to the tests provided by players like his big man, Harding.
“The Harding kid from Lee is a very good player … I think that really helps [McCormack] and helps us prepare for the tournament,” Thistle said. “Because there are some big teams in Division 3. Monument's a big team. Mahar's big. The Williams kid from Sabis is a really big player.
“But this Harding kid is a great player, and I thought Sean really took it to the next level tonight in terms of his rehab. He's been working on getting his legs under him, and tonight he was finishing shots.”
Lee finishes the season at Granby on Wednesday.
