Hoosac Valley's Scoring Woes Continue in Loss to Millbury

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Morgan Cronon scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds Friday to lead the Millbury girls basketball team to a 45-28 win over Hoosac Valley at the Spalding HoopHall Classic at Springfield College.

 

The Hurricanes were colder than the frigid January night, shooting 18 percent from the field -- and that is up from a 7 percent first quarter, when they shot 1-for-14 as the Woolies built a 10-3 lead.

 

"That's been our problem all season," Hoosac Valley coach Ron Wojick said. "We have not been scoring on a consistent basis. You look at some of our games. We finally put up 70, I think our last game against Drury.

 

"But the two games before that, Greylock and Lenox, we were in the 40s. Our two losses, we were in the 30s and then the 20s today. So that's really the biggest problem. We're just are not very good offensively right now."

 

As has been the case for the last half dozen years, the Hurricanes were good defensively on Friday night.

 

Hoosac Valley forced 15 turnovers, winning that battle by a margin of 15-6.

 

The Hurricanes actually took 20 more shots than Millbury.

 

Wojick's team just could not make those shots count on the scoreboard.

 

"I wouldn't say it's really shot selection," he said. "I mean, how many layups did we miss? We missed a lot of bunnies. You make a lot of those layups early, and you're right there, for the most part.

 

"I thought, defensively ... [Millbury] put up 79 points the other night. Our goal was to hold them to 35. They scored 45. But should be in the game giving up 45."

 

Riley Robinson led Hoosac Valley's offense with 13 points. Averie McGrath scored 12. 

 

Friday's game marked the start of a brutal stretch for the Hurricanes (6-3), who play Berkshire County North Division foes Pittsfield and Wahconah this week before another tough independent game Saturday against Minnechaug in the Coaches vs. Cancer Challenge in Cheshire.

 

"This whole stretch, I knew going into this with Millbury and Pittsfield, Wahconah, and Minnechaugh -- Minnechaugh's outstanding," Wojick said. "They're long, even longer than this team we played tonight. So we're going to have some issues there.

 

"Wahconah plays great 'D, and Pittsfield has a good, young squad. We've got to find some ways to put some points up in a hurry."