Pittsfield Boys Knock Off Monument Mountain
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – Of all the things in Wednesday’s box score to make Pittsfield boys basketball coach Jerome Edgerton smile, one number jumped off the page.
The Generals held 21 point per game scorer Khalil Carlson to just eight points in a 68-58 win to hand Monument Mountain its first loss of the season.
“[Keanu Arce-] Jackson,” Edgerton said. “Jackson’s a special defender. We gave out the match-ups, and Jackson took it head on. It was straight up, no help defense. We told the boys, ‘We’re going to see who can play basketball.’
“It was just him straight up, and Jackson did an excellent, excellent job tonight. So proud of that senior young man.”
Pittsfield (8-2) had plenty to be proud of after winning its seventh straight game.
Makai Shepardson tied for game-high scoring honors with 23 points, and Da’Sean Brown and Carter Mungin added 18 and 17, respectively.
Mungin had a double-double with 19 rebounds to go with his 17 points.
And Pittsfield, which came into the night as the second-ranked Division 3 team in the commonwealth, earned its second signature win in the last two weeks. Nine nights after beating arch-rival Taconic in front of a big crowd at the Boys and Girls Club, the Generals went on the road and took out the fourth-ranked team in Division.
The Generals went wire-to-wire in the win, scoring the game’s first eight points and taking a 20-7 lead midway through the first quarter.
“That start they had tonight was a great start,” Monument Mountain coach Randy Koldys said. “They started out getting 25 points in the first quarter. And that was really a big hole to get out of against those guys, who are very offensive minded.
“And I’ll tell you what, I was totally impressed with their defensive effort tonight, too. They played tough man-to-man against us and made it hard for us every time we had possession of the ball.”
Pittsfield, which has not given up 70 points during its seven-game winning streak, held the Spartans to their season low on offense.
Shepardson scored six points – four in transition – in the 20-7 run to open the game. Arce-Jackson capped the run with a 3-pointer for his only field goal of the night.
Monument Mountain repeatedly fought back, largely due to the slashing of Griffin McElroy, who finished with 23 points.
But each time the Spartans made a run, Pittsfield had an answer.
Late in the first quarter, McElroy scored to cut the deficit to 20-17. At the other end, Brown drove to the hoop for two and Shepardson hit from behind the arc to make it an eight-point deficit going to the second.
Late in the second quarter, McElroy got to the line and converted a pair to cap a 7-0 Spartan run and get his team within four at 37-33. But Patrick Brennan scored with an assist from Shepardson to end the half. And Shepardson scored two quick baskets to start the half and push the lead back to 10 points at 43-33.
Midway through the fourth, Kyle Wellenkamp (eight points) hit from the baseline to get Monument Mountain within three at 53-50. But Pittsfield scored the next 10, including an and-one from Shepardson, to lead, 63-50, with about two minutes left.
Koldys said he enjoyed the challenge and hopes his team gets another crack at Pittsfield in the regular season-ending Western Massachusetts Tournament.
With nine games left until that tournament, starting Friday at Wahconah, Koldys hopes his Spartans (9-1) learn some lessons from Wednesday’s loss.
“I was really, really proud of my team’s effort,” he said. “We never gave in. We played hard the whole time.
“I’m cautiously optimistic. … I think sometimes you learn more from a loss than you do a big win. We’ve had five big wins in a row, and I don’t think we learned a whole lot about stuff. But, tonight, we learned some stuff.”
As for Pittsfield, it will look to carry some momentum into another road test, Friday at Suburban North foe Minnechaug, before coming home for three straight home games starting Tuesday against West Springfield.
Arce-Jackson said that while Wednesday’s game was hard-earned, it is just another step for Pittsfield.
“Every game, we just look to win,” he said. “We’ve just got to keep winning and winning. … This was a pretty tough game. We knew it was going to be tough. But we fought through.”