Hoosac Valley's McGovern, Lenox's Julieano Recognized

This week's iBerkshires.com/Southwestern Vermont Health Care Athletes of the Week helped their basketball teams bounce back with big wins.

 

The Lenox girls basketball team started the week with a five-point loss on the road at Franklin North Division rival Palmer.

 

The setback ended a 6-0 start to the season for the Millionaires.

 

But three nights later, Lenox battled to a 28-27 win over Frontier behind 10 points from Grace Julieano.

 

This winter, she has been a key contributor in the Millionaires' 7-1 start and No. 4 ranking in Division 5 in the initial MIAA in-season power rankings.

 

On Monday, Lenox faces its biggest test yet, on the road at unbeaten Easthampton, the No. 6 team in Division 4.

 

It's hard to score 28 points in a game -- 10 more than anyone else on the floor -- and get overshadowed in a win. But Hoosac Valley's Joey McGovern was not the top story coming out of Hoosac Valley's Monday win over Easthampton, a night that saw his teammate, Frank Field, score his 1,000th career point.

 

A few days later, McGovern a force to be reckoned with in the Hoophall Classic, making 5 3-pointers and scoring 25 points to lead the Hurricanes past reigning Western Massachusetts champ Pioneer Valley.

 

The Monday win over the Eagles was Hoosac Valley's first action since its first loss of the season, a 34-point setback against unbeaten Monument Mountain.

 

McGovern's two performances against Easthamption and Pioneer raised his scoring average to 15.4 points per game, second only to Field at Hoosac Valley.

 

The Hurricanes (6-1) are on the road Tuesday at Belchertown in another Bi-County East Division matchup.

 

The iBerkshires.com Athlete of the Week is sponsored by Southwestern Vermont Health Care.