NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Mount Greylock senior Judge Martin Monday battled to a double-double to lead the Mounties to a hard-fought, 57-48 win over McCann Tech.
Noah Kane-Smalls scored a game-high 16 points, and Nolan Barnes made a couple of big plays in the second half as Mount Greylock snapped a two-game skid and evened its record at 5-5 this winter.
Martin, who averaged just 3.7 points per game coming into the night, scored 13 to go along with 18 rebounds. He got the win and the personal edge in a fight with Hornets’ pivot Walter Mazza, who finished with 10 points and 17 boards.
“I’ve played [Mazza] in football,” Martin said. “I know he’s a strong dude. I’ve seen his stats this season. Eighteen [points], I think it was the last game. I knew I was going to have to be physical with him. And, luckily, the refs allowed me to be physical.
“It was just an awesome battle. I love being able to go back and forth with a big man. He’s a good basketball player, and he’s a strong dude. But tonight, I found my way onto the boards, and, honestly, I got in the scorebook, which I don’t normally do.”
Martin’s production stood out to McCann Tech coach Chris Bullett.
“I haven’t seen all of Greylock’s games because we’re at games and stuff like that, but that’s the best I’ve seen him play since he’s been at Greylock.” Bullett said. “He was super aggressive, assertive. I give him full credit. He made plays all night long.”
Hayden Boucher scored 10 points, and Eric Rougeau had nine points and 10 rebounds for the Hornets, who played from behind most of the night.
Mount Greylock never trailed after Martin hit a 15-foot jumper to make it 23-22 with about three minutes left in the first half.
That ignited an 11-0 Mount Greylock run that included 3-pointers from Kane-Smalls and Desmond Cobb.
Rougeau put back a rebound for the Hornets in the closing seconds to make an eight-point margin at half-time.
It was a seven-point Mount Greylock lead early in the third after Martin scored in the post to make it 36-29.
But the Hornets scored the next seven points – a Kyle Rougeau 3 and buckets by Boucher and Eric Rougeau – to tie it.
After a basket by Martin at the other end, the Hornets tied it again, 38-38, when Boucher scored in the post with 1:10 left in the third.
“Every time it seemed like we were pulling to get back in the lead or whatever, it seemed like it was [Martin] who made a play,” Bullett said.
“They’re well coached. Everything with [Mount Greylock] was good discipline today. They just didn’t let us back in the game. They didn’t give us any openings we could seize on. We tried and fought as much as we could, but we could never get over that hump.”
One of those plays Martin made to keep the Hornets from pulling ahead came just after Boucher tied it for the last time.
Martin found Nolan Barnes in the left wing corner, and Barnes knocked down a 3-pointer that gave Mount Greylock the lead for good in the final minute of the third.
“The 3-pointer was great, and it was in rhythm, but the next possession, he came down … and I was calling him out for something he did on the defensive end,” Mount Greylock coach Tommy Verdell said. “That’s what it’s all about.
“We always say, ‘When the ball moves, everybody is going to eat.’ So that 3 was a matter of the ball moving and everybody eating. Sunday, when we were talking about shooting, we said, the shot doesn’t come right when it hits you in the hand. It’s like, ‘Are you seeing the rhythm of the game?’ And in that timeout, we said, ‘Nolan, that was you identifying that the shot was coming, so you started the rhythm of your shot before that.’ It’s good to see some of the things we’re focusing on carrying over to the game.”
The defensive stop that Verdell referenced led to a free throw by Martin to give the Mounties a four-point margin at the end of the third.
The Hornets hung around in the opening moments of the fourth, getting a triple from Jacob Howland (nine points) to make it 50-46 with about four minutes to play.
But Mount Greylock closed the game on a 7-2 run that included another big play from Barnes.
It started with a steal by Brady Auger at the other end to start a Mount Greylock fast break. Auger got the ball to Kane-Smalls, who brought it over half court and found Barnes for an open lay-up.
Barnes finished and drew a hard foul that sent him out of the game. Ward Bianchi took his free throw and drained it to make it 55-46.
Fouls were a factor throughout for the Hornets, who were forced to sit players much of the night due to early foul trouble.
Boucher ended up fouling out of the game. Jacob Howland and Zach Howland each finished with four.
“Every quarter, we had two of our starters missing and two of our better playmakers,” Bullett said. “That’s part of basketball. We had to figure it out. But it throws everything off game plan wise and everything like that.
“I didn’t really agree with some of those foul calls at the beginning of the game. … Some of it’s on us – like on fast breaks, we’ve got to let guys go for the layup instead of trying to foul them or step in and go for the charge.”
The Hornets (4-3) are at Baystate Academy on Wednesday.
Mount Greylock hosts Turners Falls next Tuesday; its Jan. 16 game scheduled against Franklin Tech was postponed on Monday.
