Taconic Rights Ship in Second Half to Down Pittsfield
PITTSFIELD, Mass. – Kyle McGrath had another double-double, and the Taconic boys basketball team Friday rebounded from a rough third quarter to roll to a 71-57 win over Pittsfield at the Boys and Girls Club.
The win gave the Thunder, the seventh-ranked team in Division 3 statewide, a 12-2 record and a season-sweep over its arch rivals.
McGrath, who scored a game-high 21 points and grabbed a game-high 16 rebounds, overcame a first half that saw him and Ceasar Santos (13 points) each pick up his third personal foul.
McGrath said the foul trouble contributed to Taconic giving up 20 third-quarter points and all but two points of a 40-23 half-time lead.
“On the defensive end, I had to be a lot more cautious of everything I do,” McGrath said of picking up his third foul midway through the second quarter. “I just had to get my team more involved from the bench. Just pick ‘em up.
“I think we took our foot off the gas a lot [in the third quarter]. We let them come back. We tried to switch things up, but it was just our ability to come back is really what got us back into that game.”
Pittsfield’s Kyle Cardoso scored six of his team-high 19 points in the third quarter.
His last bucket of the quarter got the Generals within one score at 46-43 before McGrath ended the period with his only field goal of the quarter to give Taconic a five-point cushion going to the fourth.
The Thunder forced a turnover and got a McGrath layup in transition to start the fourth. After Santos (13 points) put back his own miss and got to the line, he completed the and-one to make it 53-43. McGrath then followed by tipping in his miss to make it a 12-point bulge before Pittsfield could score in the quarter.
The Generals got to within single digits one more time, when Cardoso scored in transition to make it 62-54 with 2 minutes, 10 seconds remaining.
But McGrath, who had eight points in the fourth quarter, scored on a baseline inbounds play and Quentin Christopher scored on transition off a turnover to push the margin back to 12 points with just more than a minute left to play.
Christopher ended up with seven points. Martin Boua had a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds, and Nate Reynolds scored 10 for the Thunder.
For Pittsfield (8-6), Quincy Abellie came off the bench to score 12 points, and Freddy Conyers added 10.
Taconic jumped ahead midway through the first quarter with a 9-0 spurt to take a 17-5 lead when Santos drove the left wing for a bucket with 3:47 left in the period.
Two late scores from McGrath on assists from Reynolds and Boua pushed the lead to 26-13 after one.
In the second quarter, Elijah Harewood and Evan Roccabruna each knocked down a 3-pointer for Taconic to help it push its lead to 17 points at the break.
“I thought our bench came in and did a great job in the second quarter, particularly,” Taconic coach Bill Heaphy said. “That’s what [Roccabruna] can do, and that’s why he went in. He’s got the green light to shoot it. I thought he gave us good minutes. I thought Jaeson [Koloski] did too and Kamaris [Dewitt].
“I thought Elijah [Harewood] played really well for us. Hit a big 3, got a few rebounds. He’s a very athletic kid. When he gives us something, that really helps.”
Pittsfield capitalized on Taconic turnovers in a 10-0 run to start the second half.
The third turnover of the sequence led to Prosper Ezan Jr.’s transition bucket with 4:23 left in the third to make it 40-33.
Another turnover, this one on a steal by Bri’Awn Thompson, led to an Elias Robinson basket that got Pittsfield within two points at 43-41.
Christopher answered with a triple, setting the stage for Cardoso’s basket to make it a one-possession game for what turned out to be the last time at 46-43.
Even though Taconic was trending up at the end of the quarter, the Thunder knew it was in a dogfight after the way it played that period. Heaphy agreed with his big man that the foul trouble contributed to the Thunder’s approach in the third.
“You could see we played way too tentative,” he said. “Guys didn’t want to pick up their fourth, so you saw the run Pittsfield was on, and basically we were backpedaling. And they came right at us. Give them credit.
“And they’re an explosive team. They’re athletic. They get to the rim quick. Kyle [Cardoso] had a great game. I hope he’s OK.”
Cardoso left with an apparent leg injury with 28 seconds left to play, an eerie echo to Abellie’s second-half departure when the teams played at the Club back on Jan. 6. That night, Taconic needed a basket in the closing seconds for a two-point win.
On Friday, the Thunder took care of business early in the fourth quarter to eliminate the need for such drama.
“I’m happy with how they responded in that fourth quarter,” Heaphy said. “I’m happy with the response.”
Both teams will be back at the Boys and Girls Club on Jan. 31. Pittsfield will face Wahconah and Taconic will take on Agawam in a double-header that starts at 5:30.
First, the Generals will make a trip to face Agawam on Tuesday.