Longmeadow Center Too Much for Pittsfield Girls

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. - Kayla Mokwuah scored 24 points, grabbed 26 rebounds and blocked 14 shots to lead the Longmeadow girls basketball team to a 63-40 win over Pittsfield on Friday night at the HoopHall Classic at Springfield College.

 

"I thought we did halfway decent in the first quarter, and then when we started changing personnel, we lost contact with her," Pittsfield coach Joe Racicot said. "She's up and above everybody anyway, so it's just a matter of time.

 

"That's tough to go against."

 

The 6-foot-3 Mokwuah scored a respectable six points in that first quarter, which ended with a 15-12 Longmeadow advantage.

 

But she scored eight more in the second and started to rack up the blocks to send the Lancers (10-0) into the locker room with a 34-14 lead.

 

Pittsfield (6-3) managed to cut the lead down to 14 a couple of times in the fourth quarter but was never able to get closer.

 

"The thing is, you get it to 15, and you try to whittle it down so you're down by 10, but that wasn't happening," Racicot said. "Any time we did go for a little run, we threw the ball away and lost that next opportunity."

 

Peyton Steinman led Pittsfield with 22 points. Bella Aitken had six, and Allie Hunt grabbed 10 rebounds.

 

Steinman was frustrated by double teams all night as Longmeadow was able to take chances on defense knowing Mokwuah was there as the last line of defense.

 

Steinman did most of her damage in the second half, when she scored 14, grabbed four rebounds and had an assist.

 

"[Steinman] busted her tail offensively and defensively," Racicot said. "You do get tired out, but like she said, 'My shot's just not going in tonight."

 

The high watermark for the Generals came midway through the fourth when Steinman hit a shot to make it 50-36.

 

But on Pittsfield's next possession, Mokwuah grabbed a rebound and was fouled in the process. She went to the other end and hit two foul shots.

 

Then on Pittsfield's next trip, Mokwuah blocked a shot and grabbed the rebound. Then at the other end she put back a rebound to make it 54-36. Longmeadow's Abby Churnick hit a foul shot to finish a 5-0 run that got the lead back to 19 with 3 minutes, 47 seconds left to play.

 

Pittsfield will look to gt back in the win column on Monday when it hosts Wahconah, which lost a one-point decision at Drury on Friday night.