Davis, Taconic Hand Monument Mountain its First Loss
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Practice was not perfect for Taconic’s Quincy Davis on Thursday night.
But once the game tipped off, the senior could not miss, knocking down seven 3-pointers to score a game-high 21 points in a 77-45 win over Monument Mountain.
“Actually, nothing was falling in warm-ups,” Davis said afterward. “I was feeling down, but the coaches told me to keep my head up and keep shooting.”
And his teammates reinforced that confidence, repeatedly finding Davis on the perimeter.
“It feels great when you know they’re falling, but I’ve got to thank my teammates for getting me the ball in my spots and finding me when I’m open,” Davis said.
It was a five-point game early in the second quarter when Dedric Moody set up Davis for a triple to make it 20-12.
That 3-pointer kicked off a 20-6 run that included two more Davis 3-pointers and ended with Isaac Percy’s putback to give Taconic a 37-18 lead with about a minute left in the first half.
Percy finished with 16 points and eight rebounds, and Robert McCown had 18 points and six boards.
Mohammed Sanogo led Taconic with 10 rebounds and scored eight points, including a putback for a dunk that gave his team its first field goal of the game and a 3-2 lead.
Taconic took the lead for good on its next trip when Percy drove the lane for the first of four straight Taconic baskets -- the last a Davis 3-pointer that made it 13-4.
But Monument Mountain (6-1) rallied with a Noel Powell jumper in the lane and a Dion Brown 3-pointer to get back within four points and matched Taconic basket for basket until the hosts started to pull away early in the second.
Brown finished with a team-high 19, and Powell had 12 points and seven rebounds as the Spartans took their first loss of the season.
Monument Mountain coach Randy Koldys tipped his hat to the dangerous Taconic offense and the many problems it poses for opponents in the paint and on the perimeter.
“Just hand the ball to somebody else, and somebody else will knock down a 3,” Koldys said.
“This puts us to probably where we should be right now. We’re a team in transition, and we still have a long, long way to go. It’s Game No. 7 of the year, and we’re going to get better. I’ve told everybody, I think we’re going to be a much, much better team in the second half.
“We started off the year so well … but we’ve got a lot of work to do, and obviously you saw that tonight.”
Monument Mountain hosts Hampshire Regional on Saturday night.
Taconic (5-3) takes a four-game winning streak into Saturday’s game at Amherst.