Lee Tops McCann Tech in Home Opener

LEE, Mass. -- Kenzie Garrity scored 14 points Friday to lead the Lee girls basketball team to a 50-26 win over McCann Tech.

 

Mika Diller scored eight points and grabbed 13 rebounds for the Wildcats, who evened their record at 2-2 with a victory in their home opener.

 

Garrity had three steals, and Lee forced 19 turnovers in the first half – holding the Hornets to just nine points and generating numerous easy scoring opportunities in transition.

 

“We worked hard on [defense] the last couple of days in practice – trying to be active, get some live ball turnovers, tips, deflections, stuff like that,” Lee coach Rick Puleri said. “They did a great job of that, especially early. And we were able to get out and get some early ones because of it.”

 

A basket in the half-court offense in the form of a putback by Mia Puleri (eight points) put Lee up, 14-5, after one quarter of play.

 

It was still a nine-point margin after Hannah Boisvert (eight points, 14 rebounds) put back a rebound for the Hornets early in the second to make it 16-7.

 

But moments later, Lee’s Gianna Carlino swiped the ball and went the other way for a lay-up that ignited an 11-2 run to the end of the half.

 

Carlino scored two more baskets off steals and finished with all nine of her points in the second quarter as the Wildcats opened a 29-9 lead going to the locker room.

 

“She played very well,” Puleri said of the seventh-grader. “She sees the game very well for a young kid. She plays hard and helped us out with that for sure.”

 

A varsity lineup that features more middle-schoolers (three) as seniors and juniors combined (two), Lee features a lot of “young kids.”

 

“We’re just trying to go one minute at a time,” Puleri said. “But they are young. It was our first home game, so they were excited to be here. And it’s always nice to get a win in your first home game. I think it helped settle them down a little bit.”

 

Boisvert is the only senior on McCann Tech’s roster, so the Hornets have plenty of youth as well. But they also have been struggling to keep all their players healthy.

 

“Yesterday was the first practice we’ve had in two weeks with 11,” McCann Tech coach Justin Kratz said. “Every practice the last two weeks has been single digits, so we haven’t been able to run anything five-on-five that looks anything like a game does.

 

“The combination of running a lot of quarters – some girls playing five or six quarters a night – getting tired and not seeing much live action, this is only our third game … this is all just growing pains.”

 

The Hornets (0-3) had one game postponed in the first few weeks of the season and played another, its home opener, without any of its regular varsity guards available.

 

After falling into a deep hole in the first 16 minutes on Friday, McCann Tech nearly doubled its offensive production in the second half, when leading scorer Aiden Champney scored seven of her 10 points.

 

“At half-time, if we had not fallen asleep on their fast break, we probably would have been more in the four- to six-point range,” Kratz said. “That was just lack of paying attention, and that can’t happen. We’ll make mistakes running offenses, we’ll make mistakes against presses, but the effort has to be there.

 

“And they listened during half-time, and I think they played harder in the second half. Just, again, a lot of growing pains, a lot of fatigue.”

 

McCann Tech gets a few days to rest before playing back-to-back with games Thursday at home against Granby and Friday on the road at Pioneer Valley.

 

Lee gets a big test to start the new year when it travels to Cheshire to face Hoosac Valley.

 

Photos from this game to come.