Lee Runs Its Record to 12-4
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Joe Abderhalden scored 18 points Saturday afternoon to lead the Lee boys basketball team to a 62-33 win over Mount Greylock.
Ben Kelly finished with 11 points, and Mitchell Keenan had eight points and 10 rebounds in a balanced attack for the Wildcats.
Lee’s third straight win gives it a 12-4 record with two games left in the regular season – plus the Western Mass Tournament – to improve its seed in the Division 5 State Tournament.
Going into the weekend, Lee was the No. 14 team in the commonwealth according to the latest MIAA in-season power rankings.
Earlier this week, the Wildcats qualified for the tourney with their 10th win – the first time Lee has gone to the dance since the statewide tournament began in the 2021-22 season.
“These are guys who love to be around each other, and obviously that year of experience that we had last year was awesome,” second-year Wildcats coach J.T. Brown said. “And then we have some new players that are stepping up and taking on bigger roles and doing a really good job of it.
“I knew that we were going to be a good team. We play hard every day in practice. And I feel like we play hard in the games. And I think that’s finally coming together.”
It was a seven-point game after one quarter on Saturday after Mount Greylock’s Henry Bergstesser knocked down a 3-pointer late to make it 16-9.
But Lee opened the second quarter on a 9-0 run to take its first double-digit lead of the day.
Jacob Clark (nine points) got things going with a bucket in the post, and Ben Kelly (eight points) got some points in the paint. Clark then scored in transition and got to the line for a conventional three-point play to make it 23-9, and Omari Smith capped the run with a baseline drive to put his team up by 16.
The Mounties settled down from there, getting to half-time down by 13.
Nolan Barnes (15 points) had six points and two assists to help Mount Greylock keep the game from getting out of hand.
But in the third quarter, Aberdhalden scored eight points to help Lee outscore the Mounties, 19-10 and take a 53-31 lead into the fourth quarter.
With both teams working leaning on their benches in a low-scoring fourth, the Wildcats were able to hold Mount Greylock to just one field goal.
A young Mount Greylock team that features no seniors and as many eighth-graders (three) as juniors still is looking for its first win this winter.
But second-year coach Tommy Verdell said his young team is learning from the experience and not disheartened by the record.
“I said early on, we’re just trying to not feel defeated,” Verdell said. “We still don’t feel defeated.
“As you know, our season was top heavy. We had some heavy hitters early on. But There was a moment six or seven games in when we started to be more competitive. What’s happened to us is we’ll have a two- or three-minute stretch where it just goes sideways, and we don’t have the greatest comeback ability.”
Still, Verdell has seen growth.
“Today, we had an adjustment in what we were trying to do,” he said. “One of the kids said, ‘They’re doing this, and I think this could work.’ And it did.
“I told them in the locker room. It’s a process. We can’t skip from Step 3 to Step 90. We just have to go through the experiences and build on them so that we can trust the things that are happening on the court.”
While there is plenty of youth in the varsity lineup for Mount Greylock, Saturday was a day to celebrate even younger cagers as the Mounties hosted youth basketball players from the district to the Mountie Dome.
“We talk about our program as a K-through-12 program,” Verdell said. “We’ve got our kids volunteering community service, giving back. We’re really trying to develop our younger program. … So for [the elementary school kids] to have the opportunity to come and be a part of it today was great.”
Mount Greylock (0-17) finishes the regular season at home on Tuesday against Hampshire before getting matched up against two other non-Western Mass qualifiers for games to fill out its 20-game schedule.
Lee, meanwhile, is at Mount Everett on Monday night and home against Franklin Tech on Tuesday to get ready for a run in the Western Massachusetts Class C tourney.
“It’s a tough, tough opponent,” Brown said of state tourney-bound Mount Everett. “It’s always good to play the Berkshire County teams. They’re a good team, and we’ve got to be ready to play. … We played them in the jamboree, so the sides are somewhat familiar with each other. It’ll be a good battle.”