Mount Greylock Boys Pull Out Win Over Pittsfield

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- The Mount Greylock boys basketball team Thursday used 13 first-half free throws to build a four-point lead over Pittsfield and four big foul shots in the last 20 seconds to secure a 51-46 win over the Generals.

 

Brady Foehl hit both ends of one-and-ones in the closing seconds with the game on the line to help the Mounties snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 3-4 this winter.

 

“Brady really didn’t shoot the ball well tonight, which is one of those things that happens in basketball and in life,” Mount Greylock coach Bob Thistle said. “But he wanted the ball on those big four free throws.

 

“And we say it all the time in practice: Shots may not be going, but good shooters keep shooting. And he stepped up and went 4-for-4 when it really mattered. That’s something to be proud of.”

 

On the night, Mount Greylock shot 19-for-25 from the charity stripe. Sean McCormack scored six of his game-high 16 from the line.

 

He also teamed with Cameron Hadley on the go-ahead basket with about four minutes left after Pittsfield (5-3) erased an eight-point third quarter deficit to tie it, 39-39, with a Griffin Manns 3-pointer.

 

McCormack started the game-winning play with a shot in the low post. Hadley grabbed the rebound and attempted a putback that rimmed out, and then Hadley and McCormack went for the tip-in, which fell through to make it 41-39.

 

“He’s working hard for us,” Thistle said of Hadley. “Everyone’s looking at Sean McCormack, as I think they should. He’s one of the better players in our league. But Cam’s doing a workmanlike job for us. He’s rebounding. He’s taking care of the ball. He flashes big on the press so we can break the press and take some of the pressure off the guards. He’s just really working to do his job.

 

“He’s going to have nights where he scores 10, but tonight, that shot -- another example like the Brady Foehl situation where, hey, we needed it then, and he took care of it for us.”

 

At the other end, Toby Foehl (11 points, six rebounds) grabbed one of his four second-half rebounds to get the ball back, and Sam Dils came down and drove the lane for a bucket to put the Mounties back up by four, 43-39.

 

Tyrell Boire (10 points, eight rebounds) scored to make it a two-point game, but McCormack came back with a basket in the post to give the Mounties a 45-41 lead with three minutes left.

 

After both teams came up empty on a couple of trips, Toby Foehl fed McCormack for a basket to stretch the lead to six with just less than a minute left. But Terrick Boire hit a 3-pointer to make it a one possession game, 47-44, with 30 seconds on the clock.

 

The Mounties got the ball in the hands of Brady Foehl, who was fouled with 19.2 on the clock, and he hit both to make it a five-point margin. After Hadley grabbed a defensive rebound, the Mounties had a rare misfire on a one-and-one, and Pittsfield got the ball back with a Tyrell Boire rebound with 11.3 on the clock.

 

Manns (11 points) was fouled attempting a 3, and he hit two of three at the line with 5.3 seconds left to make it 49-46.

 

Again, the Mounties inbounded to Brady Foehl, and he was fouled with two seconds left. He then calmly knocked down both foul shots to provide the final margin.

 

Pittsfield hosts Lenox on Monday night.

 

Mount Greylock will look to build on Thursday’s win on Monday when it hosts Hoosac Valley -- the last game against a Berkshire County North Division foe before a run of nine against either the South or an independent game at Mount Everett.

 

The Mounties did themselves no favors with the early schedule -- except the favor of gaining valuable experience for January and February.

 

“No excuses, but we’ve had a pretty rigorous schedule to start the season,” Thistle said. “We’ve lost to Drury twice. They’re undefeated, a good ballclub. We lost to Taconic; I think they have one loss. Mount Anthony (Vt.), good ballclub. So, all these teams are going to make us better down the stretch.

 

“But we haven’t been able to finish games. We haven’t been able to put four good quarters together. I think we were down in the Drury game by a couple or going into the fourth quarter down one. But it’s 32 minutes of basketball, and that’s what the kids did tonight.”