Mestre Leads Taconic Boys Past Pittsfield

PITTSFIELD, Mass, -- It has been kind of a slow month for the Taconic boys basketball team, which Saturday played for just the third time since Jan. 20.

 

But that did not stop Taconic from getting out to a fast start in knocking off Pittsfield, 83-56, to claim the city championship.

 

Playing for the first time since suffering its second loss of the season back on Feb. 3, Taconic got 16 points from Izaiya Mestre to lead three players in double figures as it ran its record to 

13-2.

 

“It’s been a long three weeks of waiting to play, and I know other teams are going through it too,” Taconic coach Bill Heaphy said, referring to the rash of snowouts this month. “That’s always a worry, when you’ve had a layoff.

 

“But I got a good sense from them yesterday in practice. It just seemed different today, certainly, in the locker room prior to the game. I had a sense we were ready.”

 

Taconic jumped out to a 13-0 lead in the first four minutes of the game and only once saw its lead drop below double digits.

 

Pittsfield (6-11) cut the margin to five with an 8-0 run early in the second quarter.

 

First, Amin Purry (11 points) hit a 3-pointer. Then, after a Collin Frinks rebound at the other end, Sam Higuera set up Griffin Manns for a triple to cut the lead to 22-15. Tyrell Boire then had a steal and lay-in to make it a two-possession game.

 

But Taconic answered with an 11-0 run that saw Pittsfield turn over the ball on three straight possessions.

 

Matt Stracuzzi started things with a 3-pointer. Then Mestre hit a triple off an assist from Drew DeMartino to get the lead back to 11. DeMartino scored, and Deonte Sandifer hit from outside the 3-point arc to make it 33-17 midway through the second.

 

Heaphy said he was happy with his offensive production all night.

 

“I thought our shot selection was better,” Heaphy said. “I thought we were more patient than rushing shots, and I think that plays into it -- when you’re making extra passes, looking inside, not looking for that first shot, you tend to get a higher percentage shot.

 

“And that’s what we’ve worked on.”

 

After Terrick Boire scored with an assist from his brother to get Pittsfield back on the board, Brett Murphy started an 8-1 run with a conventional three-point play. Taconic went up, 41-20, when Mestre put back an offensive rebound in the final minute of the half.

 

The lead got as high as 26 -- 56-30 -- when Sandifer knocked down a triple late in the third quarter before the second and third units took over the game.

 

Sandifer finished with 12 points, and Murphy had 11 for Taconic.

 

Tyrell Boire led Pittsfield with 13 points and six assists.

 

The Generals are scheduled to host Drury on Monday for Senior Night.

 

Taconic is at Wahconah on Monday as it continues a stretch of three games in five days.