WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – The Mount Greylock girls basketball team Tuesday started its state tournament run by running early and often in a 65-34 win over Salem Academy Charter.
Transition offense fueled two key stretches in the second and third quarters that allowed the Mounties to take control of the game and advance to Friday’s round of 32, where it will meet Carver, the No. 8 seed in Division 5, for a spot in the Sweet 16.
Mount Greylock coach John Jacobbe said his team went into the game with an emphasis on running the floor.
“We played in a highly competitive league this year, and we knew that the team we were facing didn’t play in as strong of a league,” he said. “Facing the challenging defenses we faced all year, we thought we would be able to get out and run, and we were able to do that.
“That helped us score the most points we’ve scored all year. That was good for us.”
Charlotte Coody scored a team-high 16 points and grabbed 21 rebounds, and Jackie Brannan added 10 in a balanced Mountie attack that got points from 10 different players.
Mount Greylock (6-14) took the lead early by taking advantage of defensive breakdowns on baseline inbounds plays. Coody, and Brannan were on the receiving end of feeds from Emma Newberry and Molly Sullivan that set up open looks in the lane in the first quarter, which ended with the Mounties ahead, 12-7.
In the second quarter, that lead ballooned to 15 points with a 12-2 run fueled largely by Mount Greylock’s fast break.
Abby Scialabba (eight points) got things started by pulling down a defensive rebound and taking the ball the other way for an and-one to start the quarter. Later in the run, Newberry drew a foul in transition and sank a pair of free throws, and Brannan capped the run with a putback in transition to make it 24-9.
It was a 14-point lead at half-time, and the Mounties opened the third quarter on a 10-2 run to put the game away.
Sullivan got to the line in transition and set up Coody for a transition basket during that stretch.
“Molly gets out and runs and breaks the press,” Jacobbe said. “Molly’s a junior who has been with the program since freshman year, and I ask a lot of her. She played well tonight. Points aren’t always everything. She was all around the ball tonight.
“She made some good two-on-one fast break passes that we struggled making at times early in the year. It was good to see us get some baskets off the transition.”
Sullivan finished with six assists to go with three points. Brannan just missed a double-double with nine rebounds to go with her 10 points.
Salem Academy was led by Cindy Shehu, who scored a game-high 26.
Jacobbe said the tournament experience – both winning a state tourney game and making a trip to Carver – will pay dividends down the road for a Mount Greylock team that graduates just one senior, Tessa Leveque.
But he also is not conceding anything going into Friday’s road game.
“The more games we can get this year, the better,” Jacobbe said. “We’re playing the No. 8 seed. We beat the No. 7 seed in Drury [on Feb. 11]. We played [fifth-seeded] Taconic to a one-point first quarter. We played [second-seeded Springfield ICS] to a one-point first quarter before we got beat pretty soundly by the top seeds.
“We know nothing about Carver right now because I don’t believe in looking ahead.. I’ll know more in about an hour. … But this game, we get a chance to play a top-10 seed, see if we can get to that level, try to win the game. And, if not, we get to see what it’s like. We get to do a road, state tournament game in, probably, a full gym. And that will get us to know what we have to do in the off-season.
“And, if we win, you just keep the ride going as long as you can.”
