CHESHIRE, Mass. – Thursday’s Mount Greylock-Hoosac Valley boys basketball game had a little something for everyone.
A first half that was a gift to Hoosac fans. A third quarter that cheered the Greylock faithful. And a fourth quarter entertaining enough to delight the most non-partisan of hoops fans.
Hoosac Valley ninth-grader Adan Wicks knocked down two fourth-quarter 3-pointers, and junior Joey McGovern went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final 24 seconds as the Hurricanes earned a 57-54 win to close out the 2022 portion of their schedule with a 3-1 record.
McGovern finished with 13 points to lead four Hoosac Valley players in double figures, and Frank Field had a double-double with 11 points and 15 rebounds.
The Hurricanes weathered a 21-3 Mount Greylock run in the third that saw the Mounties lead by as many as five points after trailing by 13 at half-time.
“We had a little adversity tonight,” Hoosac Valley coach Bill Robinson said. “We had a nice first half. … I was happy with the tempo in the first half. We built a nice lead. The third quarter, we knew they were going to come out and hit us – but not that quickly.
“A lot of that was on us. They were in a triangle and two, and we had guys in there who have to make shots. And we didn’t. We missed, I think, five 3s to start the half. And [Mount Greylock] went down and put it right to us. … But our kids could have been rattled, but we hung there, kept it close the rest of the way, and it was anyone’s game at the end.”
Hoosac Valley was hitting from outside in the first half.
McGovern connected three times from beyond the 3-point arc, and Adan Wicks (12 points) hit two 3s to take control.
The Hurricanes actually had to pull ahead twice in the first half.
First, they went up 21-8 early in the second quarter.
Then, after the Mounties rallied to cut the deficit to five when Elias Robinson got an and-one in transition to make it 21-16, Hoosac Valley closed the half on a 10-2 run to go into the locker room ahead, 31-18.
“I didn’t think we came off the bus with the energy we should have brought into an environment like this,” Mount Greylock coach Bob Thistle said. “And I felt [at half-time] like our whole focus should be that we only have the third quarter. So the kids played with much more energy.
“But whatever we’re running offensively, we tip our hat to Hoosac – tough team, tough place to play – it doesn’t matter unless you make shots. We have really made shots in our first few games. And that’s gonna come. We started to make shots in the second half, and that’s why we came back in the ballgame.”
Jackson Shelsy started the second half by knocking down a 3-pointer.
Max Mcalister (11 points) then hit twice from behind the arc as the Mounties scored the first 16 points of the second half and took a 34-31 lead.
After Hoosac Valley’s Kamarion Kastner (10 points) got the Hurricanes on the board with a triple, Chase Doyle (game-high 15) drove the lane and pulled up for a jumper to put the Mounties ahead. And McAlister’s third 3 of the quarter made it a 39-34 lead.
“We came out and kind of got a little cold,” Field said of the third quarter. “Their energy kind of shocked us. But our freshmen came up huge. Kamarion, Adan and Qwanell [Bradley] hit a few huge shots.
“They just showed us how much they’ve grown in just a few weeks. They’re really mature for their age. And they came around and saved us big time. If they weren’t hitting shots, the deficit to come back from would have been a lot bigger.
Kastner hit a 3 and a long 2 from the left side to tie the game at 39-39 late in the quarter. And then the teams traded baskets with Mount Greylock taking its final lead on a putback by Judge Martin early in the fourth to make it 43-42.
Field answered with a triple to retake the lead. And then Kastner finished on a nice drive and dish from McGovern to make it 47-43, Hurricanes.
Moments later, Kastner cashed in an offensive rebound to make it 50-46, and the Hurricanes led by as many as seven when Wicks hit a 3-pointer with an assist from Kastner with about two minutes left.
Mount Greylock’s Doyle then quickly got the deficit back down to one with an and-one and a corner 3 to make it 53-52 with more than a minute to play.
After an exchange of turnovers and a defensive rebound by Bradley, McGovern got to the line with 24 seconds left for a one-and-one. He hit both ends to make it a three-point game.
With five seconds left, Doyle drove for two and got fouled. But his free throw rimmed out, and Mike Szabo came up with the rebound on an alternate possession play that gave the ball to the Hurricanes.
Again, Hoosac Valley got the ball to McGovern, who was fouled and knocked down a pair of free throws with 2.4 seconds on the clock to make it 57-54.
Mount Greylock was able to get the ball into the front court, but its last second shot was off the mark, and the Hurricanes celebrated a hard-fought win.
“I felt pleased with our effort in the second half, we’ve just got to put four good quarters together, effort-wise,” Thistle said. “But we’ve gone into Drury now, we’ve gone into Hoosac and had a couple of close games – we went into overtime [against Drury] and this one went down to the wire.
“We want to win both those games, but these are games that are going to build character. And they’re going to help us gain experience as we get ready for the rest of the season.”
Mount Greylock (1-2) is home on Tuesday against Smith Academy.
Hoosac Valley is off until Jan. 2 when it goes to Easthampton.
