Warriors Close in on Tournament Berth

GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. -- The Wahconah girls' basketball team found a way to win its second straight close game on Wednesday, defeating Monument Mountain 46-42 to close within one win of qualifying for the Division 2 Western Mass. tournament. After getting off to a 3-6 start to begin the season, the Warriors have now won six out of their last eight games to improve to 9-8 on the year. 

"I'm pleased with the way we have finished our last few games," Wahconah head coach June Blake said. "We were able to weather a few scoring droughts with some good team defense." 

The Warriors earned a season sweep over the Spartans (8-9) by rebounding from a poor first half in which they only scored 15 points. Monument led by two at halftime, but the visitors stormed back behind the strong play of Katie Dumas in the third quarter. The sophomore guard guided Wahconah to 18 third-quarter points, hitting a pair of 3-pointers and scoring 10 of her 13 points in the period. The Spartans kept pace with the Warriors, however, leaving the contest tied at 33 points apiece heading into the fourth. 

That's when senior center Shannon Lussier stepped up her game.

"Shannon came up big in the fourth," Blake said. "She scored six points as well as coming down with crucial rebounds and had two very big blocks to hold Monument scoreless in the final minutes. They had an opportunity with 20 seconds to go down by three, but they had a 3-point attempt that was long, and Katherine Lewis came down with the rebound and was fouled with 10 seconds to go. She hit the second attempt, which sealed the game."

Both Dumas and Lussier had big nights on the glass. Dumas led the way with 11 rebounds, while Lussier pulled down nine boards. Senior guard Gabby Lavinio also helped out with nine points, eight rebounds and three assists. 

Vanessa Troiano paced the Spartans with 13 points, while Sam White chipped in with 10 of her own. 

Wahconah next hosts Frontier at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday.