CHESHIRE, Mass. -- The Hoosac Valley Girls Basketball Tournament got under way Friday evening with Mount Greylock and Wahconah facing off in the first game and Hoosac against South Hadley in the second.
Mount Greylock and Hoosac advanced to the finals, which will be played Saturday at 7 p.m.
Mount Greylock 52, Wahconah 46
The Mounties held the lead against Wahconah throughout, but the first quarter ended with the Mounties clinging to a one-point advantage.
Before half, Wahconah was able to take advantage of Greylock’s turnovers and put some shots in the net, but on the other end the Mounties continued to push the ball up the court and get some fast breaks; going into the third quarter with a 24-17 lead.
In the second half, Wahconah came within six points of the Mounties with less than 2:00 remaining. It was getting second looks at the basket with some big offensive rebounds and went to the line a few times and were finishing, as Greylock got itself into some foul trouble.
“We gave up so many rebounds and gave Wahconah so many extra possessions,” Greylock coach Paul Barrett said.
Greylock was able to hit some big shots in the final minutes to pull away a 52-46 win.
“Given that we’re a young team, it was nice that it got a little bit tight and they responded and played with some poise at the end,” Barrett said.
For Greylock, Lucy Barrett finished with 19 points and Jenna Benzinger had 12. For Wahconah, Maddie Sprague finished with 10 and Emmy Cote had 8.
Hoosac 65, South Hadley 53
Hoosac, coming off a big win against West Springfield, had its work cut out against another tough opponent, the South Hadley Tigers.
Fortunately for the Hurricanes, they were hitting their shots from outside tonight, but South Hadley was coming right back at them driving the ball down low.
Hoosac held a 17-13 lead after the first quarter, but in the second the Tigers took over the lead off of a few offensive rebounds. They were taking advantage of those second possessions.
With less than a minute left in the half, Hoosac’s Madi Ryan hit a 3-pointer to take a 33-30 lead going into the second half.
“We can’t let people drive to the hole,” Hoosac coach Ron Wojick said. “We gave up too many easy baskets; we need to clean up the paint and rebound a little bit better.”
The Hurricanes came out in the second half looking to put it away. Fallon Field and Ryan hit some huge shots from outside and Emily Rosse was finishing down low.
They were able to hold the lead throughout the second half and finish with the 65-53 win.
“We were tired and we played through,” Wojick said. “We made enough plays to still win the game, even though we probably weren’t at our best tonight.”
Rosse finished with a team high of 19 points and Field was right behind her with 18. Ryan finished with 12.
Hoosac will face Mount Greylock tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. in the finals and South Hadley and Wahconah will play in the consolation game at 6:00 p.m.
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