Patella Double-Double Lifts Lenox Past Putnam

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- Sophie Patella had a double-double, and Kat Nichols made a big hustle play to lead the Lenox girls basketball team to a 39-29 win over Putnam Voc on Tuesday in the first round of the Western Massachusetts Division 4 tournament.

 

“Sophie Patella played an all-around great floor game,” Lenox coach Mike Nykorchuck said. “She handled the ball versus pressure, played point and grabbed 22 rebounds while scoring 16 points.

 

“Tabor Paul contributed nine big points with 3s in the second half to extend our lead to double digits.”

 

Lenox allowed the hosts to score the first five points of the game before starting to clamp down on defense, going into the half having allowed just 10 points.

 

After Paul’s sharp-shooting helped build a double-digit lead, Putnam was able to get it back down to a seven-point game with a minute left. That is when Nichols came up big.

 

“Putnam rolled the ball upcourt to save time, but Kat sprinted to half court, slid on her knees and stole the ball,” Nykorchuck said. “She got up while dribbling and drove the length of the court and laid it in to put the game away.”

 

Tenth-seeded Lenox (7-14) moves on to Friday’s sectional quarter-finals, when it will travel to play No. 2 Ware (17-4), a 67-47 winner over Franklin Tech on Tuesday night.