NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Branden Perry scored nine of his 22 points in a pivotal third quarter as the Monument Mountain boys basketball team defeated Wahconah, 70-57, in the first round of the Gene Wein Holiday Tournament at Drury High School.
"Branden is just a tough, hard-nosed player," Monument coach Mike Saporito said. "He's our floor leader, he's our general, he's our captain, he's our senior. I think he's playing within himself.
"But I think he's playing within himself. He's not trying to do too much. He took what the defense gave him when he had his opportunities, and he's strong enough that when he can get into the paint, he can finish."
Conor Prince scored a game-high 24 pointss, and Jordan Piepho grabbed 10 rebounds as the Spartans played their way into Tuesday's tournament final against host Drury, a winner over Mount Everett in Monday's nightcap.
Monument (1-1) was up 24-23 at half-time, but siezed control with a 13-2 run midway through the third.
Prince got it started with a 3-pointer to make it 35-30. On Monument's next trip, Perry hit a jumper from the lane to push the lead to seven.
Next time down, Daniel Newey set up David Riegel for a 3 that got the lead to double digits, 40-30. Then, after a Prince steal at on end, Riegel put back an offensive rebound at the other.
Wahconah's Cole Morrison scored in the post to get the lead back to 10, but Perry answered by driving the lane for a conventional three-point play that made it 45-32.
It was a 14-point lead going to the fourth quarter, and Wahconah got as close as seven. But Monument put the game away at the line, converting nine of 10 free throws in the last three minutes.
Joey Lavinio finished with 17 points to lead Wahconah (1-2). Morrison ended up with 11, and while eight of those came after half-time, Saporito was happy with the way his defense stepped up against the Wahconah big man after allowing the ball into the post too much in the early going.
"I thought they did a good job gapping us in the first half," he said. "I thought they executed pretty well with their game plan, getting the ball inside.
"We showed a little better discipline in the third quarter. We cut off their penetration angles.
The key is trying to keep [Morrison] a little bit off the block."
