Two Hopkins Runs Do In Millionaires at Cage

AMHERST, Mass. — After his team dropped a 62-50 loss to Hopkins Academy in the Western Massachusetts Division 4 semi-finals, Lenox boys basketball coach Scott Sibley was not dwelling on what might have been.

He was too busy celebrating what has been a successful season for the Millionaires.

“I know people say we lost [Bailey] Patella, and it would have been fun to have him here tonight and see [Patella and Hopkins’ Sam’i Roe] go against each other,” Sibley said. “But we did the best with what we had and the hand that was dealt us. Every team loses good basketball players every year. We cycle through. Life goes on.

“I thought the kids worked hard tonight and should hold their heads high. They have nothing to be ashamed about.

“Twelve points, I believe i is the second-closest game they’ve had after Mahar. We’re happy with that. It’s still a loss, but it shows we can play with a team that’s now 22-0. And who knows? A few things here or there, and it could have been different.”

Roe scored 19 points, and top-seeded Hopkins used two big offensive runs to build a comfortable fourth-quarter margin and move on to Saturday’s sectional final against Quaboag, a 57-53 winner over Granby in Monday’s other semi-final.

Patrick Colvin scored 14 points, and Kevin Coakley scored 10 for the Millionaires, who got seven assists from Thomas Hedges. 

The defending D4 champions took command with a 14-0 run at the end of the second quarter that left the Hawks with a 29-19 half-time lead.

Roe had two steals to set up easy transition baskets during the run.

“He’s definitely a tough kid,” Sibley said. “He is their floor general. Everything goes through him. I thought early on John Morrison took it to us pretty good when Sam’i wasn’t hitting early on. But he’s still involved in everything. His quickness created turnovers in that second quarter. He’s a good basketball player.”

Hopkins put the game out of reach with a 12-0 spurt midway through the  third quarter to extend its lead to 45-25. 

It was 60-36 in the fourth when both teams started clearing their benches.

Lenox reached the sectional semis, a step further than last year’s team, despite losing Patella to a prep school last summer.

“I know that I’ve heard that we played with a chip on our shoulder and things like that, but really throughout the whole season, nobody expected us to do too much with the kids we lost last year,” Sibley said. “We’re losing seven kids this year, so if people don’t want to think come December we’ll be ready to play basketball, that’s great for us. We’ll relish that role of the underdog again.

“It’s great team basketball that we had this year. They all relied on each other, and I’m proud of them.