Keefner Leads Monument Mountain in Win at Hoosac Valley
CHESHIRE, Mass. – The Monument Mountain boys basketball team took care of business on the road against Hoosac Valley with a narrow, 55-52 win on Monday night.
Isaiah Keefner led the way for Monument Mountain with 18 points while Griffin McElroy added 17 including four triples.
Hoosac Valley came out firing in this game, stunning Monument early on. Hoosac Valley started the game on a 10-2 run thanks to back to back 3-pointers from Joey McGovern (nine points).
That early run would be the last time the Hurricanes led in the game.
After a timeout from Monument’s head coach Randy Koldys, the Spartans proceeded to go on an 11-0 run themselves and took the lead back just before the end of the first quarter. It took a Frank Field fadeaway 3-pointer to tie the game at the buzzer, 13-13. Field had the game high with 20 points.
Monument really picked things up on the defensive end after that first quarter timeout, and they continued to keep the pressure up in the second.
Keefner continued his great night on the defensive side with two steals and finished at the rim in quick succession to widen the Monument Mountain lead. Hoosac Valley was able to get another three at the buzzer to keep them within 10 going to the break. The turnovers were an issue for Hoosac Valley in the second period and it allowed Monument to get easy transition buckets. The Spartans scored 24 points in the quarter alone.
Monument Mountain continued to push the ball up the court in the second half not allowing Hoosac to get back on defense. Hoosac finally started to take care of the ball and was able to get it inside for easy twos around the rim.
Bradley Qwanell had six of his eight on the night in the third quarter alone, thanks to good rebounding and positioning on the low block. Hoosac was able to cut the lead to five going into the fourth quarter.
With the pressure mounting in a tight game late, both teams struggled to score with missed layups and tough contested shots. With just less than two minutes to go in the game, McElroy knocked down a deep 3 with the shot clock winding down to give the Spartans a 55-50 lead.
Field answered back with a bucket down low to cut the lead to three, but that was as close as the Hurricanes got. After a missed front end of a 1-and-1 for Monument, Hoosac was unable to capitalize with a highly contested 3 that fell short.
Monument completed the sweep on Hoosac Valley after winning for the second time this season. Monument will look to get a win streak going against Monson on Friday after dropping two games last week. Hoosac Valley will look to bounce back against Hampshire Friday night.