McCann Tech Storms to Victory in Second Half

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Zachary Howland scored 15 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, and the McCann Tech boys basketball team Friday came from behind to earn a 56-41 win over Westfield Tech.

 

The Hornets used an 14-0 run that spanned the third and fourth quarters to open up a 41-29 lead and never looked back en route to winning its second in a row.

 

After scoring just 17 points in the first half, McCann Tech exploded for 39 points after half-time and led by as many as 21 points before clearing its bench with a couple of minutes left to play.

 

“It was really a momentum switch,” Howland said of the second half performance. “We knew this was going to be a tough game, but we wanted to come out strong in that second half.

 

“Normally, that’s our weak point. We fail to come out strong, we come out lazy in the second half. Most of our energy is gone by the second half. So it was a big switch tonight. We came out tonight and put a big run on them.”

 

The Tigers led most of the game after a 5-0 spurt to take a 13-8 lead. They led by as many as seven after Jack Harris hit a pair of 3-pointers in the second quarter to make it 19-12.

 

McCann Tech coach Chris Bullett said his team was having trouble asserting itself on the offensive end in the first half.

 

“In the first half, it seemed like we were doing some of the right stuff, but we weren’t doing it with confidence,” Bullett said. “We looked a little passive to me. And the second half, I felt like we came out and looked like a confident team. And [Westfield Tech] kind of reacted to that. In the first half, we looked a little passive, and they got aggressive with us.

 

“We were trying to alter our shots to get around them and weren’t finishing like we want to do. The second half, we … played more the way we want to play.”

 

Two players in particular really stepped up their game in the second half: senior Jaydon Dimitropolis and sophomore Sabin Sciacca.

 

Dimitropolis scored 10 of his 12 points and grabbed four of his five rebounds after the break.

 

“In the first half, he was taking the shots from inside and moving around so that he was avoiding the block,” Bullett said. “In the second half, he just put his shoulder down and went right through. We went right through the block and finished pretty much every time.

 

“And we passed the ball better in the second half. We stayed wider on the wings, so that ended up letting us get the ball inside. … We’ve got Vern [Percy] too that we can get the ball into, so we have some options in there.”

 

The go-ahead run started when Howland set up Kolton Buck for a corner 3 to give the Hornets the lead for good at 30-29 with 1 minute, 37 seconds left in the third quarter.

 

Jaxson Pilot (nine points) hit a triple before the quarter ended with McCann Tech ahead, 35-29.

 

Sciacca started the fourth by scoring in the post and later converted in transition to give the Hornets a 12-point lead.

 

He scored all five of his points and pulled down eight of his 10 rebounds in the second half.

 

“I inserted [Sciacca] into the lineup, and he’s been playing better and better,” Bullett said. “He’s a sophomore that transferred from Vermont, so he’s still kind of getting to know all the guys a little bit. But he’s really starting to jell with some of the guys on the court.

 

“And I couldn’t take him back out. He was just doing everything, stuff that we needed to win.”

 

After the Tigers ended McCann Tech’s 14-0 run, the Hornets scored 11 more in a row to take their biggest lead of the night when Howland stole the ball and went to the basket to make it 52-31 with 2:15 left to play.

 

The Tigers got some window-dressing points against the Hornets’ reserves, but it was all over by then.

 

McCann Tech improved to 6-3 and avenged a 63-56 loss at Westfield Tech in the season opener.

 

“We still have yet to play a full game of basketball the way we want to play it, but I feel like we’re getting closer,” Bullett said. “In practice, we’re there right now. It’s just not translating to games. We have a lot of new guys that don’t know each other.

 

“”So, offensively, we were really challenged early in the year, just getting chemistry and knowing where people are going to be. And we’re starting to lock in on the spots that people are going to go to, where people are good at making the extra pass. So I think that’s making a big difference. And then the defense has just been getting better game by game with the help defense and everything like that.”

 

The Hornets Tuesday go on the road to look for their second win of the season against Turners Falls.

 

Photos from this game to come.