Wahconah Wins at UMass Amherst
AMHERST, Mass. -- After making six 3-pointers en route to a three-point half-time lead on Saturday afternoon, the Wahconah boys basketball team took a more direct approach over the final 16 minutes.
And its relentless driving to the basket paved the way for a 67-52 win over Frontier at the Pioneer Valley Tipoff at UMass Amherst.
Jack DuCharme scored 15 points and passed out five assists to lead Wahconah and earn Player of the Game honors as his team improved to 2-0 on the young season.
Six of DuCharme's points came from behind the 3-point arc. Both of those makes came in the second quarter. In the second half, Wahconah as a team needed just one triple to pull away for the double-digit win.
"I thought we were a little too stagnant in the first half," Wahconah coach Dustin Belcher said. "So we made a point of emphasis at half-time that we had get downhill and attack the rim.
"I think when we space the floor and we get some balanced scoring like we did tonight, that's gonna be the key to our success. We had five guys in double figures tonight, and the other night we had four. So I think having a balanced attack is going to be our key."
Jake Wasuk scored 14 on Saturday. Cooper Calvert and Sam McLaughlin each scored 12, and Aidan Hagmaier had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.
Wahconah trailed, 15-13, after one quarter but took the lead with an 11-2 run that featured 3-pointers from McLaughlin, DuCharme and Calvert to make it 24-17.
Frontier answered with back-to-back 3s, including one from Max Millette, who led all scorers with 22 points, and the teams traded buckets, leaving it a one-possession game with Wahconah up, 32-29, heading to the locker room.
The Red Hawks scored the first five points of the second half, but Wahconah responded with a 9-2 run to take the lead for good.
The go-ahead run started with Wasuk's make from the elbow and Hagmaier knocking down what ended up being his team's last 3-pointer to put it up, 37-34. It ended with DuCharme driving the lane for two to give Wahconah a 41-36 lead.
Wahconah scored seven straight baskets going to the hole, counting a DuCharme layup in transition early in the fourth quarter. The only other point in that stretch came off a DuCharme offensive rebound.
Wahconah finished with a 47-39 edge on the glass and had six players with at least five rebounds apiece.
"We're not the biggest team in the world, so we've got to do it the old-fashioned way," Belcher said. We've got to put a body on a guy, be physical. We want to take some hits down there. And I think we did that.
"Sam McLaughlin, he plays almost the entire game, and he's down there battling the whole night for us. It's really a team effort, rebounding. We work a lot on that in practice, just about every day. And it's a key to getting us going on offense, too."
A drive by Calvert at the end of the third gave Wahconah the biggest lead of the game at 50-41, and Frontier never got closer than five points the rest of the game.
A 6-0 spurt in the fourth quarter put things out of reach as Wahconah went 8-for-10 at the foul line in the final 2:01.
With a pair of "road" wins in its pocket (Wahconah was the designated home team in Saturday's neutral court game), Belcher's team comes home on Monday night for the first game in the new Berkshire County League, hosting Taconic.
"It was definitely good for us to play a player of [Millette's] caliber this early in the season," Belcher said. "Going into the league, there's going to be a lot of talented players. So I think this was not just a good win because of the atmosphere, which is awesome, but it's also a good win early in the season against a good team.
"It doesn't get any easier. Obviously, Taconic's a very good team, and we've got Hoosac on Thursday night, so it's a big week for us. I'm really excited for the league. I think it's great for the sport. I'm looking forward to seeing gyms be packed and people getting excited.
"And I'm looking forward to these guys being able to go out and play some of these teams."
Photos from this game to come.