Third-Quarter Lull Hurts Hornets in Road Loss

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NORTHAMPTON, Mass — The McCann Tech boys' basketball team probably wishes it could do the third quarter over again after losing to Smith Vocational 69-62 on the road on Monday night. 

That's the point where things got away from the Hornets, who only trailed the Vikings by just four points coming out of the first half. Smith reeled off a 24-11 run in the third quarter, however, jumping out to a 17-point lead at one point before McCann (6-8) made things a little more interesting in the fourth. Despite a 25-15 run in the final frame, Justin Kratz's team couldn't overcome the damage that was done in the third quarter. 

"We played OK in the first half," Kratz said. "We lost our defensive intensity and our fast break in the third quarter, though. We made a run at them in the fourth, closing their lead to four points, but we didn't have enough left in the tank. We got down too big, and our run was too little, too late. Not playing defense for a full 32 minutes and not looking for our fast break in the third led to them pulling away. It was a tough loss on the road." 

Three players combined to score all but five points for the Vikings. Sam Sharpe led the way with a game-high 23 points, while teammates Jordan Castillo and Allan Rivera weren't too far behind with 21 and 20 points, respectively. Senior forward Mike Chappell had another big night for the Hornets, netting a team-high 19 points to go with 13 rebounds and three assists. Senior point guard Nate Gutmann added 13 points and three assists, while senior center Zach Giron chipped in with nine points and 13 boards. 

McCann next hosts Franklin Tech in game scheduled for 7 p.m. on Thursday. 
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