Hoosac Valley Wins Rematch at Wahconah
DALTON, Mass. – On a night when defense and scrapping for loose balls was the name of the game, the Hoosac Valley girls basketball team got a critical stop in the closing seconds that led to the winning points of a 49-47 win over Wahconah on Thursday.
Emma Meczywor scored 20 points and grabbed seven rebounds, and Ashlyn Lesure scored 12 to lead the Hurricanes, who avenged a home loss to Wahconah last week and won for just the second time in five games.
True to form in what has been the best Berkshire County girls basketball rivalry for a number of years, the teams combined for 55 turnovers.
Meczywor, a senior veteran of many battles with Wahconah, said the rivalry and Suburban League standings were not the only things motivating the Hurricanes’ intensity.
“First of all, we have three of our, basically, starters out,” she said. “And I think that we came into the game, and we just wanted to play hard. Our motto has been: Just play, just go out and play the basketball that we know how to play.
“I think we knew we could beat them [after] the first time. We didn’t play our best. We didn’t shoot our best. Tonight, I think we really locked down on defense and on offense. We were making shots. And that’s what really pushed us.”
Meczywor knocked down four 3-pointers, and Hoosac Valley easily surpassed the 35 points it scored the first time around against Wahconah.
But the Hurricanes went cold from the field from about the five-minute mark of the fourth quarter.
After Meczywor scored in transition to give her team a 46-43 lead, Wahconah scored the next four points: a bucket by Madison McCarthy (12 points) in the post) and a pair of free throws from Danielle Hagmaier (nine points, eight rebounds) to give the hosts a 47-46 lead with 2 minutes, 14 seconds remaining.
A personal foul against Wahconah at the other end gave Hoosac Valley a fresh shot clock with 1:44 on the clock, and Wahconah got the ball on a team rebound with 1:22 remaining.
The teams then traded turnovers before Wahconah got a baseline inbound play in its offensive end with 30 seconds on the clock.
Sammie Kaley (12 points) drove the ball along the baseline from the right wing and got it to the wing on the other side of the court. But Wahconah’s entry pass into the post was successfully defended by Meczywor and Lesure.
Lesure grabbed the loose ball and dashed the other way, drawing a foul that sent her to the line for two shots with 14.9 seconds remaining.
She drained both free throws to give Hoosac Valley its first points in nearly five minutes and a 48-47 lead.
Wahconah got the ball into the front court and called timeout with 11.3 on the clock. But a shot in the post rimmed out, and the deflection out of bounds went to Hoosac Valley with 4.9 seconds remaining.
Regan Shea (six rebounds, six assists) was fouled with 2.7 left, and she made one of two free throws to provide the final margin of victory.
Wahconah (5-4), which made the big plays it needed in the closing minute for a 40-35 win in Round 1, came away from the rematch with more valuable experience in a tight ballgame, coach Liz Kay said.
“I just told them: We’re going to learn so much more and grow so much more from close games than we are either getting blown out or blowing somebody out,” Kay said. “And the reality is, it’s January, still, and I’ve got young kids who are learning. And this is how they’re going to learn the best.”
Hoosac Valley (7-3) learned a little about how to win without its full complement of players.
“We lose Maryn [Cappiello], she’s basically our two guard, we lost our starting center, we lost our sixth man off the bench,” Hurricanes coach John Frederick said. “I hate to say it’s a ‘next man up’ mentality, but, for us right now, it has to be.
“I think Genevieve [Lagess] stepped up really big today. A couple of times she got out of sorts, but she found herself for a younger kid. Gianna Witek was big. … The kids, we told them, you’ve got to step up, and you’ve just got to give an effort.”
Both teams will be back in action on Saturday. Hoosac Valley will be at Springfield International Charter to play Gardner Area, Maine, in the Hoophall Invitational. Wahconah will face another county rival when it makes the short trip to play Pittsfield in a 5 p.m. start.
Photos from this game to come.