Westfield Boys Down Mount Greylock

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Mount Greylock boys basketball coach Tommy Verdell Monday got exactly what he was looking for from Division 2 Westfield.

 

The Bombers, meanwhile, got a 55-34 win.

 

“This helps us to be ready for Friday against Monument,” Verdell said afterward. “No offense to Monument, but they’re not going to look any faster than [Westfield]. So it was kind of a little bit of strategic scheduling so that we could see what that’s going to look like. And then we have three days to get close to that in practice.

 

“Guys start to understand what it looks like, if and when we can extend our season this year.”

 

Evan Miller hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 14 points to lead the Bombers, who improved to 5-7 with the win.

 

Westfield stormed out of the gates with an 8-0 run that included two triples from Miller and went on to lead, 23-10, after one quarter after Adrian Bradley converted an and-one in the post and Jack Madsen scored from beyond the arc just before the end of the period.

 

The Mounties settled down a little in the second quarter, forcing six Westfield turnovers – two on steals from Kayden Boucher – and holding the Bombers to 12 points to go into the locker room down, 35-19.

 

But Westfield again extended its lead in the third quarter, going up by as many as 23 before the Mounties were able to hold their own against the Bombers’ bench in the fourth quarter.

 

Cole Creighton led Mount Greylock with 10 points. Boucher scored eight, and Thomas Warren finished with four points and a team-high seven rebounds.

 

The double-digit loss was the first for Mount Greylock since Hoosac Valley visited Williamstown back on Jan. 2. Since then, Mount Greylock was 2-3 heading into Monday with three losses by a combined 16 points.

 

“We’ve been building,” Verdell said of his young squad. “That’s what it’s about. It’s about growth and maturity. You’ve got to go through the fire. You start to accumulate enough experiences to where, now, ‘Ah, this is familiar.’ And then you start executing on it.

 

“So today was challenging, but it’s about getting better, growing. And I know we did that. You’re always nervous that you don’t want your team to lose its confidence. But I think I’ve explained [to the players] well why we did it, what’s coming, what this week does and then how it prepares us for the rest of the season.”

 

Mount Greylock (4-9) goes to Great Barrington to play the Spartans on Friday night.