CHESHIRE, Mass. -- The Hoosac Valley boys basketball team came back from a six-point half-time deficit to earn a 47-32 win
over Mount Greylock on Monday night.
Mount Greylock got an early lead on Hoosac right from the start; they were able to create plays on Hoosac’s turnovers and the Mounties' shots were falling. Emmett Shepard for Greylock had 14 of its 22 points in the first half.
The Hurricanes were rushing their offense and weren’t getting many good looks at the basket, giving Greylock a 22-16 lead going into the third quarter.
“We needed to settle down,” Hoosac coach Bill Robinson said. “I thought we were just a little giddy, I thought we were on a little higher speed then we needed to be.
“We were pressing ourselves, we were rushing shots and we just had to settle down. We made a couple adjustments and the kids responded, especially defensively.”
The Hurricanes may not have been hitting the boards hard in the first half, but in the second they came out and took it away. And defensively they were strong all night, keeping one of Greylock’s top shooters, Eric Hirsch off the board and allowing only three people to record points for the Mounties.
“We didn’t shoot well in the second half,” Greylock coach Bob Thistle said. “But I credit Hoosac for playing really great defense.”
At the end of the third quarter, Greylock trailed by 1 point, 30-29, but Hoosac came out in the fourth and put up 17 points to Greylock’s 3.
“We tried to make some adjustments, and we had some good looks. But some nights the ball just doesn’t go in,” Thistle said.
Shepard who had a team-high of 15 points for Mount Greylock. Michael McCormack added six, and Jake Benzinger finished with 11.
For Hoosac, Jameson Coughlan finished with a team high of 16 points, and Matt Koperniak and Austin Milesi each had 10.
Greylock, now 5-1, will host Pittsfield Wednesday evening at 7 p.m. and Hoosac (5-2) hosts St.Joe.
