Greylock Goes Down Swinging in Loss to HV
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass — Facing a must-win situation, the Mount Greylock girls' basketball team played like a team fighting for its playoff lives on Tuesday night. Unfortunately for the Mounties, they were unable to fully recover from a 14-point second-half deficit and wound up losing 51-46 at home on Tuesday night.Greylock made one final, valiant run at the Hurricanes but couldn't avoid dropping to 7-11 on the season, eliminating Paul Barrett's club from postseason consideration in the process.
"We dug down and battled back, both in the first and the second half, leaving it all on the floor for the seniors," Barrett said. "Our short bench handled the onslaught of Hoosac defenders. Alex Majetich provided a spark off the bench with her hustle, steals and rebounding. A couple of balls rolling out as time wound down prevented us from overcoming a four-point deficit, which ended up being five points as the final horn sounded. The girls ended with an effort they could be proud of, though."
A sloppy start for the Mounties led to a 17-7 deficit after the first quarter of play. The Hurricanes (13-5) then took a 30-19 lead into halftime before pushing their edge up to 14 points early in the third quarter. Greylock responded with 13-4 run at that point, however, and stayed within single digits the rest of the way. The hosts pulled within six points with about three minutes left to play, but Hoosac sophomore Jenn Gale hit one of her three 3-pointers from the right wing to give the 'Canes enough of a cushion to hold on for the win. Gale later knocked down a key free throw and came up with a steal in the final minute to keep the Mounties at bay.
"It was a tough game," Hoosac head coach Ron Wojcik said. "Both teams played hard. We built big leads twice and to their credit, Greylock came back, still trying to fight for their tournament berth. It was a good tourney atmosphere for our kids to play in down the stretch and make the plays to pull it out."
Gale finished with 15 points, four rebounds and two assists, while freshman teammate Emily Rosse scored a game-high 16 points to go with eight boards. Sophomore Megan Rodowicz added 12 points and four assists for the Hurricanes, who next face Lenox in the Coaches vs. Cancer Tournament at 5:45 p.m. on Saturday.
Senior forward Caitie Benoit led the Mounties by hitting four threes on her way to a 12-point, 10-rebound night. Junior forward Alex Majetich added 10 points, six boards and seven steals, while freshman guard Lucy Barrett also helped out with 10 points as well. Greylock will also play in the Coaches vs. Cancer event on Saturday, matching up with Mount Everett at 4 p.m.