WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The role players and bench players took center stage for the Mount Greylock boys basketball team on Thursday night as the Mounties rolled to a 74-23 win over short-handed Mount Everett.
Starter Patrick Storie led the way with 16 points, but all but one player on the Mount Greylock roster scored at least three points as the team snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 3-2 this winter.
Mount Greylock used a 16-2 first-quarter run to establish a 20-point lead and held the Eagles (0-9) to just four points in the second half.
"Our kids played hard, played good defense, and we were able to get everybody into the game," Mount Greylock coach Bob Thistle said.
Storie was the only player on either team to finish in double figures, but Aaron Ronnow, Zachary Ronnow and Sean McCormack scored nine points apiece.
McCormack, Storie and Cal Filson each pulled down eight rebounds and Filson passed out three assists.
Storie started the second-quarter onslaught with back-to-back 3-pointers, the first assisted by Filson, to make it 16-4. Storie later had a steal and score out of Mount Greylock's press and then hit a foul shot to close the run at 26-6.
Mount Greylock led by as many as 28 in the first half when Storie was fouled attempting to put back an offensive rebound and sank both free throws to make it 39-11.
Rebounding was a big factor for the Mounties, who finished with 56 boards to Mount Everett's 28.
Damonitti Conaway was a bright spot on the boards for the Eagles, grabbing a game-high 13. He also scored a team-high eight points and added an assist.
Mount Everett gave up 70-plus points for the third straight night and suffered its worst loss of the season. The Eagles previously lost by just nine to unbeaten Drury and by just two to Wahconah.
But they went into Thursday's game without two regulars: Kenneth Krom and Cavan Brady.
"It does make a difference," Mount Everett coach Jowe Warren said. "We're a young team. Our guys are not able to stay on the bench and watch games."
And as that bench gets shorter, the Eagles are worn down by a schedule that has seen Mount Everett play three games in four days this week.
Even with that, and the winless star to the season, Warren does not get a sense that his team is giving up.
"Obviously, they're frustrated," he said. "I'm frustrated, too. But what we've been telling them over and over again is this is a young team, and the experience we gain is going to pay dividends.
"They can look at last year's [13-7] team. They took their lumps early on in their careers. But they improved from that."
Mount Everett finally gets some time off before it's Jan. 20 game at Westfield Tech.
Mount Greylock hosts Bennington, Vt.'s, Mount Anthony on Saturday evening.
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