CHESHIRE, Mass. -- In the true spirit of the season, Hoosac Valley junior Izaha Stubbs showed Saturday how much better it is to give than to receive.
Stubbs dropped five 3-pointers in the fourth quarter as the Hurricanes held off Mount Greylock to take a 64-58 victory.
Stubbs had 10 points but no 3s going into the final eight minutes, but his offense ramped up after he fed freshman Carson Meczywor (nine points) for a triple on Hoosac’s second possession of the quarter.
“Izaha really kind of put us his shoulders offensive,” Hurricanes coach Dave Harte said. “We kind of switched things up and let him run the point. I think what got him going was distributing the ball first, looking for others. That got his shot going.
“When he goes the other way and looks for his shot first, I don’t think he gets into a rhythm.”
Stubbs continued his passing ways in the postgame, deflecting attention from his own 15-point fourth quarter.
“I think our freshman Carson Meczywor,” Stubbs said when asked to talk about the difference in the game. “He stepped it up and gave us a boost. And our big guys started finishing at the hoop.”
In truth, there was plenty of credit to go around, whether it was the rookie Meczywor’s two fourth-quarter 3s, Josh Paree’s 14 points, seven boards and two assists or John Krol’s 10 points and 10 rebounds.
For Hoosac Valley (5-1), it was a fourth straight win heading into a five-game road swing. The hometown fans won’t see the Hurricanes again until Jan. 25 when Drury comes to call.
But, oh, what a memory to carry until then.
In what may just be the game of the season in Berkshire County boys basketball so far this winter, an 18-18 first-half slugfest transformed into a 46-40 second-half track meet.
The game’s largest lead was seven, after a Stubbs 3 gave Hoosac a 45-38 edge early in the fourth quarter. But Mount Greylock (2-2) responded with an 8-footer from Mitchell Jezouit (team-high 18) and a pair of free throws from Toby Foehl (17 points) to get within three at 45-42.
From there on, it was never more than a two-possession game as the teams matched one another blow for blow..
A Jezouit 3 with five minutes left got the deficit down to two, but Stubbs answered with a 3 to make it 50-45.
Mount Greylock’s Zeke Locklear drove the lane for a bucket, and Meczywor -- again off a Stubbs assist -- hit a 3 to make it 53-47.
Foehl -- who was held to just five points through three quarters -- hit a 3 to cut the lead in half, and Stubbs came right back with a 3 on the next trip.
Foehl drove the lane for two and got to the line, completing the three-point play to make it 56-53. And Stubbs answered with a stepback 3.
Foehl and Locklear got to the foul line on back-to-back possessions and got the Mounties back within four at 59-55.
But a Meczywor rebound with just under 2 minutes to play keyed a fast break that ended in a Paree basket to make it 61-55.
After Foehl hit a 3 with 1:15 on the clock to get the Mounties back within three points, Stubbs connected on his fifth 3 of the quarter to provide the final margin with less than a minute to go.
Hoosac Valley’s defense then forced two turnovers in the final 37 seconds to secure the victory.
“I didn’t know much about Mount Greylock,” Harte said. “They’ve got a lot of heart. They’re well coached. I thought it was Foehl and a bunch of role players, but they’re better than I thought. That’s a team that, if they had another big guy or something, would be a difficult team to match.”
Jezouit hit a big basket at the buzzer to end the first half and cap a 5-0 Mount Greylock run to send the teams to the locker room tied.
Locklear had 10 rebounds to go with his five points. Freshman Derek Paris scored 11 points and grabbed six boards. And Foehl had three assists and two steals in the second half.
“I am proud of the kids and how hard they worked,” Mount Greylock coach Bob Thistle said. “We’re a young team, and we’re trying to find our identity right now. One of things we need to do is develop a scoring line -- other guys to score other than Toby [Foehl]. They did a nice job against him, but Mitchell Jezouit had a big game. We’re starting to figure that out.
“We’re 2-2 right now. You always want to be better than your record. … But we’ll regroup. It’s a marathon season in Berkshire County basketball. That’s what you want to get through to get to the tournament.”
Mount Greylock is off until Friday when it goes to Dalton to face Wahconah.
Hoosac Valley is at Frontier on Thursday.
