Sharp-Shooting Millionaires Pull Away from Mounties

WILLIAMSTOWN, Mass. – Seamus Cooney and Duke Jaehnig scored 15 points apiece, and the Lenox boys basketball team pulled away in the second half to earn its first win of the season, a 54-45 victory at Mount Greylock on Thursday night.

 

Lenox (1-2) broke a half-time tie with a 22-9 third-quarter run keyed by three 3-pointers from Jason Sibley and a pair of 3s from Dylan Blake.

 

“Shooting started to come through for us,” veteran coach Len Miller said after earning his first win in his latest stint on the bench. “It’s a team effort, all the kids working together like that. That’s what it’s all about. For me, that’s the way to play basketball.”

 

Five different Millionaires hit from behind the arc in the win as Lenox collected 10 3-pointers.

 

Brady Auger had a pair of 3s and a team-high 15 points for Mount Greylock, which got nine points from Logan Fitzgibbons and six points and 10 rebounds from Thomas Warren.

 

The Mounties (0-3) held their own through 16 minutes.

 

Auger scored eight in the first quarter, including a 3-pointer at the end of the period to tie it, 14-14.

 

The teams then grinded out a low-scoring second quarter that again found things all even after Cooney was fouled in transition and knocked down both free throws to close out the first-half scoring with 2 minutes, 31 seconds left until half-time.

 

Both teams picked up the scoring pace in the third quarter, but Lenox had the better of thing with six total 3s to take a 44-33 lead with eight minutes left.

 

It was the second straight game that Mount Greylock has run into trouble in the third quarter. Three nights earlier, it trailed on the road at Libertas Charter, 41-38, at half-time but was outscored, 48-28, in the second half.

 

This time around, the issues were a little different for the Mounties, coach Tommy Verdell said.

 

“The last game, we turned it over, and it led to some points for them,” he said. “This game, we didn’t get the ball under control. … I just told them in the locker room, good defenses are rotating with purpose. But if you’re rotating with no purpose, aka scrambling, that’s when the game is on their terms.

 

“If you don’t get the ball under control, there’s a lot of line drives, and it’s going to lead to a long closeout, or one you can’t get to, and then their kids are getting open shots.”

 

Another big difference from Monday’s road loss. This time, after falling behind in the third quarter, the Mounties had an answer.

 

A Jaehnig triple to start the fourth gave Lenox a 14-point lead, but the Mounties answered with an 8-3 spurt, closing within nine when Warren scored in the post with 4 minutes, 44 seconds left, leading Miller to call a timeout.

 

Lenox responded, scoring twice in a row in the post. First, Jaehnig scored with an assist from Langston Cotton. Then Cotton scored with an assist from Cooney to make it 54-41 with 2:30 left to play.

 

Besides getting its first win, Lenox put together its best offensive performance of the young season after scoring 41 at Hoosac Valley and 37 at Mount Everett.

 

“That first game was kind of a perfect storm,” Miller said. “We lost one of our best shooters [Jaehnig] and didn’t have him for the Mount Everett game. So it was nice that we had all our players tonight. That was great.”

 

The healthy Millionaires will look to even their record when they play their first home game on Dec. 30 against Southwick.

 

Mount Greylock will look for its first win on Saturday when it hosts St. Mary’s of Westfield.

 

Photos from this game to come.