McLaughlin, Wahconah Pull Away Late to Beat Monument Mountain

DALTON, Mass. — The Wahconah boys basketball team Friday won the rematch over Monument Mountain, 80-64, at home Friday night. 

 

Pat McLaughlin led all scorers with 32 points, including 16 for 19 from the charity stripe. Brody Calvert added 23 of his own and Jesse Chapman had 18. 

 

Both teams struggled to shoot the ball early on but Wahconah made the most of their opportunities going to the rim. Wahconah (8-2) did a nice job pushing the tempo and getting easy baskets before the Monument defense could settle in.

 

The hosts jumped out to a 14-7 lead early in the quarter and almost all of their baskets came from inside the paint. Wahconah finished the quarter with 21 points, giving the Spartans all sorts of trouble defending and on the offensive glass.

 

In the second quarter, Monument started to settle into the game and took care of the ball better limiting transition points for Wahconah. The Spartans went on an 8-2 run to start thanks to back to back 3-pointers, but it was only enough to close the gap for the moment. Wahconah answered right back and right the ship as they took a slim 35-31 point lead into the break. 

 

“Monument is a great team and well coached. You know when you get a lead that they are going to make a run,” Wahconah coach Dustin Belcher said. “We have been working and talking a lot about stopping runs and countering with our own runs. The game is a game of runs and we didn’t do that too well in our two losses, but the few times Monument went on runs we responded.” 

 

Monument was playing from behind since the opening tip and those runs Belcher talked about were huge in closing this game out. It seemed as though every time Monument clawed back to within a few points, Wahconah was able to answer right back and keep them at bay. The difference in this game came from Wahconah attacking the basket and getting easy looks as well as being active on the boards, both offensively and defensively.

 

Anytime a team can get second chance points over and over again it’s a recipe for success. Wahconah was first to every ball and pushed it in transition when needed. 

 

“The first time we played these guys we struggled on offense,” Belcher said. “We focused a lot on just trying to create gaps and get to the rim. We hit some threes to open things up but we did a great job at the line and rebounded really well. Our point of emphasis was to rebound the basketball and make our free throws.”

 

Wahconah went 29-for-35 as a team from the free throw line, and a lot of those chances came in the fourth quarter when Monument tried to make one last effort at getting back in the game. Wahconah scored 30 points in the final quarter and made the final margin bigger than the game really played out. 

 

McLaughlin alone went 11-for-12 at the foul line in the last eight minutes.

 

Monument was led by Griffin McElroy with 21 points and Khalil Carlson added 14. This was Monument's second loss in a row after winning the opening nine games of the season. The Spartans will look to bounce back next week when they take on Baystate on the road. 

 

Wahconah (8-2) will ride this four-game win streak that includes wins to avenge both its losses into an away game against Eashampton, next week.