Second Half Run, Babcock's All-Around Game Lift Mounties Past McCann Tech
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. -- Emma Gilooly knocked down two 3-pointers to ignite a 13-0 Mount Greylock run at the start of the third quarter that sent the Mounties on to a 58-37 win over McCann Tech on Monday night.
Mount Greylock (5-5) led by just four at half-time, but when Emma Stevens converted an assist from Madison Ross midway through the third, the hosts were ahead, 37-20, and they never looked back in winning their third straight.
“Emma can shoot the ball for us, and it was a close game,” Mount Greylock coach John Jacobbe said. “Our goal is to win the first four minutes [of the half].
“She made two big shots right off the get-go. One of them we designed. The other one just happened, and that was a good play by the girls on the floor. So that was a great start to the second half.”
Ciera Schwarzer (six points, 14 rebounds) scored in the post in between two Gilooly 3s to open the half.
Stevens then drove the left wing for a pair to make it a 14-point margin. Three possessions later, Stevens knocked down a triple to make it 37-20.
Those first four minutes went pretty much as scripted for the Mounties.
For McCann Tech, it was an all-too familiar script.
“We have a quarter where we just don’t even show up,” McCann Tech coach Kathy Budaj said. “And that was our third quarter here. And that was the fourth quarter against Lee.
“I told them, if you want to be competitive, you’ve got to play 32 minutes of basketball. And that’s one of our goals this year, and we’re not doing it.”
Coupled with the loss at Lee on Friday night, Monday’s setback drops McCann Tech to 3-5.
Izzy LaCasse scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Hornets. Grace Towler scored eight, and Kaylee Tatro added six.
All six for Tatro came in the first half, which saw the Hornets cut into an eight-point deficit to get to the locker room down, 24-20.
LaCasse scored in transition and knocked down a free throw in the closing moments to answer after a 3 by Gilooly (12 points) mad it 24-17 midway through the second.
Babcock was a major factor for Mount Greylock in the first half, scoring eight of her 10 points and pulling down 10 first-half boards. She also had a couple of assists and two of her four blocks before the break.
“Delaney is an all-around player,” Jacobbe said. “She can play defense, she can rebound, and she can score. She had blocked shots tonight, and that’s not always in her arsenal. But she read plays well today.
“Delaney has been battling all year through a couple of injuries, and to see her start to cover every bit of the floor like we know she can was a good thing to see tonight.”
Mount Greylock takes a three-game winning streak into Wednesday’s home game against Amherst.
McCann Tech will look to get back in the win column on Wednesday at Hopkins Academy.