LENOX, Mass. -- The Lenox boys basketball team Wednesday turned the page on the calendar and turned up the pressure on McCann Tech.

 

Shane Steinman scored 21 points and Nick Nicotra had 16 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Millionaires to a 56-39 win as Lenox (2-6) snapped a four-game losing streak and avenged a 13-point loss in the Hornets Nest in North Adams back on Dec. 10.

 

“It was a tough one at their gym, so we wanted to come out and take it to them,” Steinman said. “We’re on our home court, and we play well on our home court, so we were going to come out with a lot of intensity.”

 

Lenox was especially tough on the defensive end of the court, holding a McCann Tech team that came in averaging 58 points per game to just 15 points in the first half.

 

Nicotra was especially tough, stealing the ball four times in the first half. He finished with five steals and four assists to go along with his double-double.

 

“We changed a couple of things around defensively,” Lenox coach Brian Cogswell said. “It’s the first time we’ve really come out with full-court pressure. That kind of made a little difference as far as the intensity level went for us, and it made a difference in the big runs.”

 

Lenox opened on a 7-0 run in the first quarter, but McCann Tech’s Bruce Davis (10 points) hit a late 3-pointer that got the Hornets back within one at 9-8.

 

That was the last time it was a one-possession game.

 

Steinman hit a foul shot and a field goal to close out the quarter, and Lenox opened the second on a 10-2 run.

 

Averin Paradise tipped in an offensive rebound and scored in the post on a feed from Nicotra to give Lenox a 22-10 lead with just less than five minutes left in the half.

 

Moments later, a 9-0 spurt pushed the lead to 31-12 on another Paradise bucket in the post, and Lenox had a comfortable 33-15 lead at half-time.

 

Unlike the first time around between these teams, Lenox more than held its own on the glass with Nicotra and Jett Steinman (eight rebounds) leading the way.

 

“The first game, they outrebounded us by like 20, so we just really wanted to box out this game,” Shane Steinman said.

 

Andre Collins matched Paradise with eight points for Lenox.

 

Keeghan Vidal scored a team-high 11 for McCann Tech, which narrowed the gap a little with a 13-7 fourth quarter.

 

The Hornets (2-2) are right back at it on Thursday night with a trip to Bay State Academy.

 

Lenox plays its sixth game against Berkshire County North Division competition on Friday when it hosts Drury, a 79-50 winner when the teams met in Bucky Bullet Gymnasium last week.

 

“We haven’t lost in 2019,” Cogswell joked. “Believe it or not, I actually said that in practice yesterday. … First or second in the [Berkshire County South], you qualify for the tournament. Get into the Division 4 tournament, and you have a chance to beat somebody, but you’ve got to get in first.

 

“I think we compete well with the teams in the South. If we go 6-2 in the South, we’re going to qualify. So we’re going to try to maintain this intensity, keep moving forward and go from there.”