Foehl Helps Mount Greylock Keep Playoff Hopes Alive
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- With one of the county’s most dangerous scorers back on the floor, the Mount Greylock boys basketball squad is a different team.
And if the Mounties want to stay on the floor, they will need more nights like Tuesday’s 80-40 win over Mount Everett.
Toby Foehl scored 26 points, including 21 in the first half, as Mount Greylock kept its post-season hopes alive with its first win in five games.
The Mounties (5-10) have five games left in the regular season and need to win all five to make it into the Western Massachusetts Division 3 tournament.
Their chances improved considerably with Foehl Tuesday playing his second game after a four-game absence due to an ankle injury.
“It’s getting better, definitely,” he said of the ankle. “It’s not 100 percent yet, but it’s getting there.
“I felt really good. I haven’t had a game this year when I felt like I shot well. I may have had a lot of points in some games, but I didn’t feel like I really shot well. There was that fourth quarter at Hoosac, that was probably the quarter I shot the best. But there was one game against South Hadley where I scored 27 points, but I didn’t feel like I shot well.
“I was really happy with how I shot tonight.”
And his coach was happy to see the junior guard play like he is capable of playing.
“Toby, obviously, was hitting nothing but the bottom of the net tonight, and he’s a knockdown shooter,” Bob Thistle said. “He’s had a tough time -- from double coverage and box-and-ones … and then you’ve got an injury.
“So to have him come back and play hard like he did tonight -- I think he’s feeling more confident on the ankle.”
Foehl caught fire in the second quarter with four of the Mounties’ six 3-pointers in the period.
It was a 10-point game when Mount Everett’s Ben Monteleone (10 points) hit a triple to make it 20-10 at the start of the second.
Mount Greylock answered with a 12-1 run that started with a 3 by Mitchell Jezouit and included five points from Foehl.
Later in the quarter, a 12-0 run put the game out of reach. That stretch included two Foehl 3-pointers and ended when Evan Sheridan set up Derek Paris (22 points), who made it 47-14.
“I thought we came out with a lot of intensity,” Thistle said. “We were down 11 at half-time last time against this team without Toby. I thought we got a good effort all the way around tonight.”
On Tuesday, the Mounties were up, 52-17, at half-time.
Mount Everett (3-11) fought back in the third, when Patrick Silk scored six of his team-high 14 points, and Anthony Kushi scored five. The Mounties ended up outscoring their guests 28-23 in the second half.
Mount Greylock hosts Lee on Thursday.
The Eagles host Granby on Thursday.