Moorer's Hot Hand Helps Pittsfield Down Lenox
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Sincere Moorer was a little too much for the Lenox boys basketball team in the third quarter on Monday night.
The PIttsfield High sophomore knocked down three 3-pointers and scored 11 of his 13 points in the third to break open a one-point game and send the Generals on to a 64-53 win.
“He came out huge,” Pittsfield coach Brandon Mauer said of Moorer. “His stroke was going. The kids were finding him. He was making all the right plays.
“He kind of pulled us out of our rut. Credit Lenox. They came out and gave us fits. They played good, savvy basketball. … It kind of put us in a shock, and luckily we got over it.”
The shock started in the second quarter, when the Millionaires used a 14-5 run to erase a nine-point deficit and tie the game with 1 minute, 25 seconds left to go until half-time on a bucket by Nick Nicotra.
Carter Matthews (team-high 15) hit a 3-pointer to put Pittsfield back on top, and the Generals got the ball back with 18 seconds left on the shot clock and a chance to make it a two-possession game going to the locker room. But Lenox intercepted a careless pass with time winding down and managed to go to the break down just 32-29.
Pittsfield came out stroke to start the second half, scoring on its first two possessions to go up by six, but Lenox answered with five straight of its own, the last three on a triple by Shane Steinman (nine points) to make it 35-34.
But two possessions later, Sam Higuera set up Moorer for a 3-pointer from the left wing to start an 8-0 spurt that included another Moorer triple and a Matthews drive that gave the Generals a 43-34 lead.
Lenox got back within four when Luke Patella (nine points) score in transition with about two minutes left, but Moorer scored the last five points of the quarter: another 3-pointer off a Higuera pass and a transition bucket to make it 50-41 going to the fourth.
The Millionaires never got closer than six points the rest of the way as Matthews scored eight in the fourth quarter to help seal Pittsfield’s fifth-straight win.
Jett Steinman scored a game-high 18 for Lenox, which got seven points, eight rebounds and three assists from Nicotra.
Kymani Harley came up big for Pittsfield in the first half, scoring 12 of his 14 points. He also contributed seven rebounds; Craig Jackson and Joe Cracolici each had eight caroms.
Pittsfield (7-2) goes to Drury on Friday.
Lenox (2-8) goes to Monument Mountain on Thursday.