Curry Sparks Pittsfield Girls in Win Over Monument Mountain
PITTSFIELD, Mass. -- Johnahyah Curry knocked down a pair of 3-pointers on her way to 10 points in the second quarter on Wednesday night, helping the Pittsfield girls grab a 12-point lead en route to a 66-44 win over previously unbeaten Monument Mountain.
Bella Aitken scored a team-high 17 points, and Alexis Garvey grabbed eight rebounds to help the Generals (8-2) hold their own against the big Spartans front line.
But the big swing came midway through the second, when Curry keyed a 15-4 Pittsfield run.
She got things started with a triple to make it 23-17. A minute later, she converted one of Taea Bramer’s five assists for another 3 to make it 28-17.
Curry later drove the lane for a hoop and scored on a pass from Kendra Buda in transition to cap the run at 35-21.
“She's a player,” Pittsfield coach Joe Racicot said of the junior guard. “She could easily be starting, if that's the thing that kids want to do nowadays. She sees things, and she gets an idea of what she's got to do and where she's got to do it. She's a bright kid, and she's quick as heck.
“She plays hard, just like the rest of them.”
In the second half, Curry had three assists and three steals. She also had a conventional three-point play during a 10-0 third quarter run after Monument Mountain (7-1) got within 10 on a pair of Fiona Horan free throws to make it 39-29.
Pittsfield never allowed the lead to dip into single digits in the second half -- a far cry from the first quarter, when the Spartans jumped out to an 8-2 lead thanks to four baskets in six possessions by Destiny Brown.
“The first quarter we played them pretty tough,” Monument coach Steve Soule said. “We did a good job in the first quarter rebounding, and in the second quarter, we didn't, and we gave up too many offensive rebounds and defensive rebounds.
“We definitely have a height advantage, and we didn't take advantage of that on the rebounding.
They're a good team. They have a lot of good players, a lot of quick players, and we didn't match their intensity.”
Brown (20 points, 12 rebounds) ended the first quarter with 13 points, and the teams were tied, 13-13.
After the Spartans started the second quarter with a bucket in the post from Horan, Aitken helped get the Generals untracked.
She knocked down a 3-pointer to give Pittsfield its first lead and one it never relinquished. Then on the next possession, she scored in the post to make it 18-15. Then she set up Kendra Castagna with a crosscourt pass, and Castagna finished to make it a five-point lead.
Horan’s second bucket of the game made it a one-possession game before Curry took over.
In the second half, Pittsfield got big contributions from Jordyn Lummus, who had nine of her 11 points and five rebounds after the break.
“Jordyn's been working hard all year long,” Racicot said. “She's a spark plug. If she gets going early, then we get going early.
“We've got some good things working. It's just a matter of putting all the pieces together.”
Pittsfield, the winner of seven straight, goes to Lenox on Friday night before next Tuesday’s showdown in Cheshire against Berkshire County North Division co-leader Hoosac Valley.
Monument Mountain will look to rebound on Tuesday at home against Lee before jumping back into the North Division fray with its trip to Hoosac Valley next Friday. The Spartans get another shot at Pittsfield in Great Barrington at the end of the month.
Soule hopes his team takes away some lessons from Wednesday’s loss.
“We have a lot of good shooters. They were just quick to close out,” he said of the Generals. “We haven't played anybody with that quickness yet, so we're not used to it. But we're going to be because it doesn't get any easier.”