Meczywor Leads Hurricanes to Western Mass Crown
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Hoosac Valley boys basketball knocked off No. 1-seeded Baystate Academy, 69-56, in the Western Massachusetts Class D Championship game on Saturday afternoon.
Hoosac Valley was led by Carson Meczywor all season long, and it was no surprise the senior stepped up on the big stage with 23 points and, more importantly, the ability to withstand pressure and close the game out in the fourth quarter.
Joey McGovern added 13 for the Hurricanes. Caleb Harrington and Frank Field had 10 each.
These two teams met earlier in the season, and Baystate won by 25 points, but like Hoosac Valley coach Bill Robinson said, that was a different Hurricanes team.
“They beat us in December, and we’ve come a long way since then,” Robinson said. “I thought we controlled the first half, holding them to 25 points. Our defense was solid, and we came out on all cylinders.”
Hoosac definitely controlled the tempo, slowing the game down and really relying on the defensive side of the ball. The Hurricanes were able to control the glass, not giving Baystate any second chance points.
Hoosac really attacked the lane and got good shots inside while kicking the ball out for easy open threes. Baystate had a nice run early in the second quarter going on an 8-0 run to widen the gap early. Hoosac would fight back with a couple of 3s from McGovern and Meczywor and close the half down four.
The second half is really where this game got flipped upside down and Hoosac upped the defensive intensity and started creating more points in transition.
The Hurricanes started getting the ball inside to Field, who had six in the quarter. Hoosac knocked down a few early 3s and finally forced Baystate out of zone and into man-to-man defense, which Hoosac took full advantage. Hoosac outscored Baystate 27 to 15 in the third quarter, giving them a comfortable lead going into the fourth quarter.
‘’They started to do some pressing and committed a lot of guys to the ball and we got to the back end of that, it’s nice to have a senior guard like Meczywor and Harrington to take control at the end,” Robinson said.
Hoosac weathered a slight storm from Baystate late in the game and eventually blew it completely open toward the end.