Red Raiders Roll Over Hurricanes
SPRINGFIELD, Mass — The young Hoosac Valley boys' basketball team experienced one serious growing pain on Tuesday, losing on the road to Commerce 81-34.The quick, athletic Red Raiders smothered the Hurricanes' offense, opening up a 21-6 lead after the first quarter and building it up to 41-10 at halftime. Commerce had four players score in double figures, while sophomore Trevor Alibozek was the only Hoosac player to reach double digits. Alibozek nailed a pair of threes on his way to a team-high 16 points. He also pulled down a team-high 11 rebounds to go along with three assists, providing head coach Bill Robinson with one of the few bright spots on the night.
"We were soundly beaten tonight in all phases of the game; offense, defense, special teams and coaching," Robinson said. "We just could not keep up with their pace. Commerce's press was relentless, and we got caught up in hurrying the ball up the court and did not convert on our 2-on-1 or 3-on-1 fastbreaks. Commerce, in turn, ran back hard at us, and we just could not handle them."
Alex Lopez led all scorers for the Raiders with 24 points. Anthony Smith nailed a trio of 3-pointers on his way to an 18-point night, while Jeimy Cinrron chipped in with 11.
After dropping their first two games of the season on the road, the Hurricanes will try to break into the win column with a home game against Putnam on Friday night. The game will be held at Adams Memorial School, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m.