Phillips, Jackson Kick Off Winter Season Honors

The first iBerkshires.com/Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Athletes of the Week of the winter season have helped their basketball teams to a pair of strong starts.

 

The Pittsfield boys, who dropped their opener in a close one on the road to a 2019 Central Mass Division 1 semi-finalist, bounced back with a pair of wins, and senior Craig Jackson has led the way.

 

Jackson is averaging nearly 18 points per game to lead the Generals.

 

Against Mahar at Curry Hicks Cage last Saturday, he had a double-double with 27 points and 15 rebounds. He hit three 3-pointers in the first half alone to help Pittsfield build an eight-point half-time lead.

 

““He was big,” Pittsfield coach Brandon Mauer said. “He gave us a spark right from the start. We’re going to be tough to beat if they can continue to knock down shots.”

 

On Thursday, the Pittsfield senior followed that up with a 16-point night in a win at the Boys and Girls Club against Mount Anthony Union. Jackson recorded another double-double with 10 boards and passed out four assists in the win over the Patriots.

 

Pittsfield is off until after Christmas but has another independent test on Friday when it travels to Tantasqua.

 

The Taconic girls basketball team started the year with three league games and passed all three of those tests, including a rare win at defending state champion Hoosac Valley.

 

Sophomore Ahliya Phillips scored a game-high 13 points against the Hurricanes and made a clutch conventional three-point play with 1 minute, 28 seconds on the clock to push Taconic’s lead to six points.

 

For the season, Phillips is averaging 15.33 points per game, just a shade under teammate and classmate Ciany Conyers for the team lead.

 

Taconic’s super sophs are off until Friday when they host Lenox, the fourth of five straight Berkshire County opponents to open the season.

 

The iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Southwestern Vermont Medical Center.