Monument Boys Edge Lenox for Tournament Title

LENOX, Mass. -- The Monument Mountain boys basketball team used a 9-0 run midway through the third quarter to build the biggest margin of the game and hung on for a 46-40 win over Lenox on Friday afternoon in the championship game of the South County Tournament.

 

Kevin Troiano scored 15 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and David Riegel scored eight for the Spartans, who took a decisive edge in a back-and-forth game when it forced a couple of turnovers with its press to erase a 23-21 deficit and open a 30-23 lead.

 

"We wanted to come out and play man-to-man to start the game and see how that went for us," Monument coach Mike Saporito said. "I didn't feel like we were getting enough ball pressure. Guys were laying off their man and letting them get comfortable. So I figured, let's try some zone pressure. It seemed to work for us.

 

"They decoded it after a while, but we got some nice momentum shifts out of it."

 

The run started out of the half-court offense, when Troiano hit from the baseline to tie the game, 23-23. The Spartans then got the first of three turnovers from the press during what would become the decisive run.

 

Later in the run, Troiano got a block at one end of the floor and drove for a transition basket to make it 28-23.

 

"That was his best game," Saporito said. "We've been waiting for Troiano to break out. He's a good basketball player, and we need him to play. We need another athletic big in there.

 

"The pace of the game today is very fast. If you can have an athlete who's tall enough and can get up and down the floor -- and he fits that bill."

 

Riegel capped the run when he drove the left wing for a bucket to give Monument its biggest lead o fthe game, 30-28.

 

Lenox (1-4) battled back, using a conventional three-point play by Michael Downer (14 points) to get the deficit back to two points, 32-30, with 28 seconds left in the third quarter.

 

But Noel Powell scored just before the break, and Riegel hit a 3 to start the fourth quarter, pushing the lead back to seven.

 

Again, Lenox rallied, getting the lead down to 39-37 midway through the fourth when Tyler Shepard (eight points) scored in transition.

 

But Monument did not allow another field goal the rest of the way while it did just enough damage at the line -- shooting 5-for-14 in the last 3:30 -- to put the game away.