NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Lenox boys basketball team was able to pull away from McCann Tech in the third quarter on Thursday night after the Hornets got within five points.
The Millionaires used a 25-8 run to seal a 72-38 victory.
Lenox started the game in man and switched to zone in the second quarter, creating turnovers on McCann’s offensive end. The visitors were hitting their shots from outside, which gave them a 25-18 lead going into the second half.
“I told the kids at half-time that we really weren’t pushing the ball too much,” Lenox coach Scott Sibley said. “That was something we looked to do in the second half, and I think once we started running, I think we tired them out and we were able to take advantage of that with our rotation.”
McCann came out in the beginning of the third quarter hitting the first shot to put the score at 25-20, but from there Lenox went on a run and pushed the ball up the court like Sibley said they looked to do. They were able to get the ball down low and get quick layups to end the quarter with a 50-28 lead.
“We wanted a low scoring game,” McCann coach Mike Nycorchuck said. “Which it’s difficult to ask these kids to play that type of game because we like to run, but we usually play teams that are of this caliber.
“At half-time, considering the score we were happy, but I wasn’t happy with the way we were executing on offense, I thought we were panicking on offense with their pressure defense.”
McCann struggled in the fourth quarter to stop Lenox’s running game. They continued to push the ball up the court and get quick layups to travel home with the win.
“It’s great to play teams like this,” Nycorchuck said. “It makes us better for our league and shows us what we’re going to face in the tournament.”
Bailey Patella finished with 20 points for Lenox, Evan Lanoue had 14, and Patrick Calvin had 12. For McCann Rahmer Vincent had 10, Dante Cellana had 8, and Shane Fuller had 6.
McCann looks to get a league win tomorrow night as it travels to Westfield Vocational. Lenox travels to St. Joe on Feb. 6.
