Wildcats Pull Away Late Against Lenox
LEE, Mass. – Mason Lucy scored 15 points, and the Lee boys basketball team outscored Lenox by 19 points in the second half to pull away for a 66-37 win on Thursday night.
Jacob Cooper scored five of his 13 points in an 11-0 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters and left the Wildcats with a 49-27 lead.
“We haven’t had many of those this year,” Lee coach Dan Korte said of the comfortable margin of victory. “We’ve really been in battles back-and-forth in pretty much every game we’ve been in.
“And this one, too, for the first 16 to 20 minutes. And then, fortunately, we were able to get some things to go our way, create some turnovers and some easy baskets, and we were able to get some momentum and carry it to a big win.”
Lee moved back over the .500 mark with the win in the first game against its local and Bi-County West Division rival.
Sam Korte and Joey Abderhalden each scored 11 points for the Wildcats.
Lenox was led by Duke Jaehnig with 12 points and eight rebounds.
The teams went blow-for-blow in the first quarter, and Jaehnig tied it, 18-18, early in the second with a jumper from the left wing.
But Lee went on an 11-1 run to end the half that featured a steal and score by Cooper and a triple from Abderhalden.
It was an 11-point Lee lead late in the third after Jaehnig hit a jumper from the baseline for the Millionaires to make it 38-27.
But that was as close as Lenox would get the rest of the way.
Cooper was fouled attempting a 3-pointer and hit two free throws to start the 11-0 run that pushed the margin to 22 points when he hit a 3-pointer with an assist from Abderhalden at the 6 minute, 30 second mark of the fourth quarter.
While Korte credited his team’s defense for its ability to pull away late, the Wildcats gave Lenox trouble in that department all night, forcing 28 turnovers by the Millionaires.
“We’re a completely different team when we’re active with our hands, putting pressure on the ball and just getting deflections,” Korte said. “We talk to this all the time: All you have to do is get a fingertip on the ball, and good things will happen.
“Lenox came out and played hard. Coach [Len] Miller is a long-time friend of mine who’s doing a great job with a really young team, and they came out scrappy. And we knew they were going to come out firing and playing hard. And they certainly did.”
Lenox (3-6) goes to Easthampton on Friday.
Lee (7-6) is at Hoosac Valley on Friday.
Although Korte said he hopes a rivalry win in front of a packed house can give his team momentum for the stretch run, he is not looking too far ahead.
“We’re looking for momentum any way we can get it, but we know nothing’s gonna be easy,” he said. “We tell the kids all the time we’re taking it one night at a time. Every game is a new day that starts tomorrow.”
Photos from this game to come.