Lee Holds Off Mount Gryelock Late to Eke Out Win
WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Joey Abderhalden recorded a double-double, and the Lee boys basketball team Monday came from behind to earn a 59-56 win over Mount Greylock.
Abderhalden scored a game-high 20 points and pulled down 11 rebounds for Lee, which overcame a 17-point second-quarter deficit and the Mounties’ own comeback push in the fourth quarter to pick up its second straight win.
Mount Greylock went on a 19-0 run that spanned the first and second quarters to take a 27-10 lead when Logan Fitzgibbons (15 points, seven rebounds) scored in transition in the second minute of the second quarter.
It was 37-20, Mounties, after Aiden Champagne scored late in the second.
But Lee ended the second quarter on a 10-0 spurt that started with a putback by Noah Masten and ended with a bucket by Jacob Cooper (14 points) to make it 37-30 at the break.
The Wildcats then scored the first 14 points of the second half to take a 44-37 lead when Abderhalden scored in transition with a little more than a minute left in the third.
“In the beginning of the game, [Mount Greylock] did a great job of getting out and getting easy baskets,” Korte said. “And they were shooting the ball well from the outside, and they had more energy than us, quite frankly, to start the game.
“And so we kind of went back into our half court defense and started grinding it out and playing good, solid defense and not giving them any more easy hoops. And I think we were able to sort of build some momentum that way.”
The Mounties finally snapped the run when Gavin Fleury (seven points, 11 rebounds) knocked down a 3-pointer with 1 minute, 7 seconds left in the period to make it 44-40.
That ignited an 8-0 run by Mount Greylock, which took the lead early in the fourth quarter on a pair of Champagne free throws to make it 45-40.
Mounties coach Tommy Verdell said that, even though the game did not go his team’s way, the 8-0 run to answer what could have been a knockout blow for Lee showed something.
“And, you know what, I deliberately didn’t call timeout [during Lee’s run], because I wanted us to try to play through a little bit of adversity,” Verdell said. “If it was on more possession, I was like [clenching his teeth], but I’m glad I did it. Because they would never have been able to have that experience.
“Hopefully, we don’t give up another 24-0 run, but maybe it’s an 8-0 run that we have to answer. There’s a lot of growth in that moment, and I’m proud of them for that.”
Lee answered when Johnny Brighenti (eight points) knocked down a 3-pointer with 5:52 on the clock to give the Wildcats a 47-45 lead they never relinquished.
“Johnny hit a couple of big shots for us that I think were turning points in the game,” Korte said. “I knew Greylock was going to keep fighting. Coach Verdell, I’ve known for a very long time. He’s a fantastic coach. I knew he was going to have his kids fired up and ready to go, and I knew that we were going to get their best shot.
“And they played hard. We were just fortunate enough to have a few more go in at the end and be able to walk away with the win.”
After Brighenti’s triple put Lee ahead, Abderhalden got a steal at the other end that led to a bucket by Mitchell Keenan in the post. Brighenti then hit another 3, and Abderhalden knocked down a jumper from the right wing to make it 54-45 with 3:14 to play.
Again, Mount Greylock rallied. A steal by FItzgibbons led to a Fleury bucket to make it a one possession game at 57-54 with 1:25 on the clock.
And it got down to one point when Thomas Warren (eight points, 12 rebounds) converted an offensive board in transition to make it 57-56 with 30 seconds left.
But Lee got a couple of free thrones from Mason Lucy (seven points, 10 rebounds) to push the lead to 59-56. And Abderhalden, and Brighenti battled two Mounties on the baseline to get Lee a team defensive rebound out of bounds with 6.3 seconds on the clock that allowed the Wildcats to get an inbounds pass and run off 3.5 seconds before the Mounties could get a foul.
Lee (3-4) hosts Lenox on Thursday.
Mount Greylock (2-6) is right back at it on Tuesday with a trip to Southwick.