CHESHIRE, Mass. — The Hoosac Valley boys basketball team defended its home court and saw one of its own reach a career milestone with a win over Keefe Tech, 78-54, in the first round of the Division 5 State Tournament on Thursday.
It wasn’t the greatest start for the Hurricanes fresh off their Western Mass. D5 Title as Keefe Tech came out ready to play. Keefe Tech knocked down a couple early t3shrees and actually led for the first half of the quarter.
Hoosac struggled to get into rhythm on the offensive end until Joey McGovern got the 3-ball working. McGovern finished the game with 21 points including a triple in the fourth quarter that cemented him in the record books. It took him nearly the whole game but he was able to join the 1,000-point club, giving Hoosac Valley two players to achieve this in the same season with Frank Field scoring his 1,000th earlier in the year.
“The most important thing was the win, we want to win a state championship and the 1,000th point just came along,” McGovern said. “I wasn’t sure if I was going to get it so it was an afterthought. I’m glad I got it but it's on to the next round.”
The Hurricanes exploded towards the end of the first quarter and into the second on the back of their stifling defense. They were finally able to speed Keefe Tech up and limit them to tough looks at the rim. Hoosac finished the quarter on a 13-0 run to give them a 19-8 lead. Keefe tried to stop the bleeding with some full court pressure of their own but it wasn’t successful as Hoosac took advantage from beyond the arc. Trevor Moynihan had a team high with 23 points including two of his four triples in the second quarter.
“It was our defensive belief tonight, they hit a couple early threes, but I wasn’t too worried,” Hoosac Valley coach Bill Robinson said. “Our defense led us to some easy baskets and just gave us the energy we needed on both ends.
“They gave us a few different looks defensively to slow Frank down but that’s why Trevor is in the game, he can score and if you’re not going to guard him he can really score. He started shooting well at Duggan [in the Western Mass final] and continued it here tonight.”
Hoosac took a 40-25 lead into the break and was hoping to close this one out in the second half. Keefe Tech had other ideas slowly hanging around and knocking down some big 3s from beyond the arc. Keefe outscored Hoosac in the third quarter 14-12 and hoped to make things interesting in the fourth.
Moynihan came out in the fourth quarter and scored a big one for the conventional three-point play that got Hoosac going once again. The Canes went on to score 26 in the quarter, putting all hopes of an upset to rest.
Hoosac Valley (20-2) will look to continue its 12-game streak just like the girls as it advances to face Ware in the Round of 16.
