CHESHIRE, Mass. — After amassing a nearly 30-point lead, the Hoosac Valley High School boys basketball team weathered a second-half comeback effort from Easthampton and held on to win 73-62 on Monday night.

 

After a 5-5 score to start the game, the Hurricanes went on a 25-4 run during the first quarter, picking up multiple steals to end the first eight minutes with a score of 30-9. Hoosac Valley continued its dominance in the second quarter, and went into halftime with a 50-24 lead.

 

Hoosac Valley coach Bill Robinson said the team did everything right during the first half to build the team's 26-point lead.

 

"We played confident on offense," he said. "The only thing we didn't do well was, defensively, I thought we gave up a lot of layups, and they gave up eight offensive rebounds in the first half, which I wasn't happy with."

 

The second half was a different game for the Hurricanes, however. After only 11 points in the quarter from Hoosac Valley, including several turnovers, Easthampton managed to lower the lead, cutting it to 15 by the end of the quarter, with a score of 61-46.

 

"Second half was just a different story. Give Easthampton a lot of credit," Robinson said. "When you get down 30 points, you usually quit, and they didn't quit. They came all the way back and they rode the wave. And we started doing things that we shouldn't be doing, and we didn't play as a team. We started playing as individuals, and you know, that's what happens when you do that. You start playing with five individuals you will lose."

 

Easthampton cut even further into the lead during the fourth quarter, bringing it to within single digits. With three minutes left in the game, the score was 66-60.

 

Robinson said Hoosac Valley gave up several rebounds and turnovers to give Easthampton momentum to get back into the game.

 

"They put a more aggressive zone than they did the first half. The first half, it was more passive," he said. "In the second half, they got a little bit more aggressive and they played passing lanes. They played pretty good, and I give them a lot of credit. They came storming back."

 

The Hurricanes managed to slow the game's pace down in the last three minutes, allowing them to maintain the lead with several attempts that got them foul shots. Robinson said those foul shots and strong defense allowed them to hold on and win the game.

 

"You got to make a couple of shots," he said. "Obviously, we got some foul shots down the stretch that gave us the lead. But we started hustling, we put together a couple steals there and we were able to hold them at bay, but it wasn't pretty."

 

Hoosac Valley plays a road game against Easthampton on Jan. 13. Robinson said the team needs to do several things in order to avoid a similar situation in that game.

 

"We got to take care of the basketball, that's for sure," he said. "We had, I think, 23 turnovers in the second half alone. So we got to take care of the basketball is what we got to do. You take care of the basketball and you get the ball where you want it to go and make some shots and the game is easy. And we got to play better defensively. We just gave up way too many easy baskets."

 

After the win, Hoosac Valley's record stands at 4-1, with a home game against Palmer on Jan. 6.

 

Photos from this game here.