Monument Mountain Wins at Hoosac Valley
CHESHIRE, Mass. – The Monument Mountain boys basketball team Friday held off Hoosac Valley on the road for a 67-55 win.
It wasn’t the prettiest game we’ve seen from either team this season, but Monument (8-1) found a way to grind things out to get the win.
“We hung around, but Monument had every answer,” Hoosac Valley coach Bill Robinson said. “Monument is a solid team who had an off night but still won comfortably.”
Manny Brown led the way for the Spartans with 21 points, 15 coming in the second half. Griffin McElroy had 16, and Dom Calautti chipped in with 11.
Both teams struggled to score in the half court set to start the game, but the big difference for Monument Mountain was the offensive glass. It was able to secure multiple offensive rebounds that led to six points in the first quarter alone.
The Spartans did a good job turning Hoosac over early on which helped them build their early lead in the quarter. It wasn’t until less than 2 minutes left when Hoosac went on a little run of its own. Trevor Moynihan had six in the quarter for Hoosac on his way to a game high 22. Hoosac scored five unanswered and closed the quarter only down four points.
Monument had a two-point lead in the second when senior Brown picked up his second foul and had to go to the bench. The Spartans rallied behind their leader and were able to go on a run of their own to stretch the lead again. They were able to get the lead to 11 all with Brown on the bench finishing the half up, 34-23.
“We got a really good lift from Finn Mason, our freshman and when Manny was out he and the other four guys did a great job extending the lead and making it more comfortable at half-time,” Monument Mountain coach Randy Koldys said.
Fresh from foul trouble, Brown really took the game in his own hands, not only scoring 10 in the third quarter but setting up his teammates and getting out in transition. The Monument Mountain defense seemed a little more aggressive and were able to take advantage of turnovers from the Hoosac Valley side. Although it wasn’t the best shooting night for the Spartans, they were able to move the ball well against the zone and find open looks inside.
“One of the things we relied on last year was our full court zone pressure, and we haven’t done it all year till tonight,” Koldys said. “It helped us with the run in the first quarter but we still have a lot to work on with that. We pride ourselves on getting our offense from defense but we didn’t do a whole lot with that tonight.”
Brown started the fourth quarter similar to his third with five straight for the Spartans, pushing their lead to a game high 19 points. Hoosac Valley had some answers of its own in the fourth quarter, finally getting some consecutive stops and leaning on its big man, Qwanell Bradley, who had 10 in the quarter and a game total of 15.
The Hurricanes cut the deficit to nine points with just fewer than four minutes to go, but thanks to a timely 3-pointer from McElroy and some nice assists, Monument Mountain was able to hold off any late run the Hurricanes had in them.
“Griffin was great in the second half especially at the end,” Koldys said. “He hit a big three pointer for us, but these guys know each other so well so they are able to play off each other.”
Monument Mountain has extended its win streak to four in a row and will look to keep it going against Belchertown at home on Tuesday.
Hoosac Valley will look to end a two-game skid when they take on Baystate, Tuesday.