SHEFFIELD, Mass. – Prior to Tuesday’s home game against Lenox, Mount Everett’s Michael Ullrich was recognized for scoring his 1,000th career point on the Eagles’ last road trip.
Then Ullrich reminded everyone how he got into the 1,000-point club.
The Mount Everett senior knocked two two 3-pointers in the opening minutes as the Eagles opened up a 29-point lead en route to a 61-35 win.
Ullrich scored nine points in the first quarter and had 14 points at half-time – 12 from behind the 3-point arc.
Sean Warren finished with six triples and a 20-point night as Mount Everett improved to 4-2 this winter.
“When Sean and I are on, we’re a tough team to beat,” Ullrich said after improving his scoring average to 14.8 points per game – one point ahead of the junior Warren.
Eagles coach Jowe Warren said the two gunners present a problem for opposing defenses.
“When you’ve got multiple guys who can hit the outside shot, you’ve got to kind of pick your poison a little bit,” Warren said. “And if they come out, we’ve got Brady Carpenter inside the paint working hard in there. And Dominic Germain, once in a while, will knock down a shot as well, and he slashes to the basket.
“So we’ve got multiple options and looks that can get to the basket.”
Carpenter scored nine points and grabbed seven rebounds for the Eagles, who led 35-10 at half-time and never allowed the MIllionaires to get closer than 17 points the rest of the way.
It was 18-4 late in the first quarter after a Carpenter put back.
Lenox answered when Jack Pignatelli stole the ball and went the other way for a transition jumper with 12 seconds left to trim the margin to 12 points.
But Ullrich drove the left wing on Mount Everett’s ensuing possession and got an and-one to put his team ahead by 15, and the Eagles started the second quarter on a 12-0 run that ended on another Ullrich free throw to take their biggest lead of the game at 33-4.
Coach Warren said he was relieved to see Mount Everett, which came within a point of its season high for scoring, come out strong offensively after playing its last game on Dec. 21 at Duggan, where Ullrich reached his milestone.
Ullrich said it was no accident.
“Coach kept on us,” he said. “We’ve been practicing hard the last four or five days. That definitely helped out.”
Warren, who came in with a team-high 14 3-pointers, had at least one in each quarter on Tuesday night. His lone two made it 35-10, Eagles, at half-time.
Lenox battled back in the third quarter by finding center Shaler Larmon in the post.
Larmon scored 10 of his team-high 16 in the period, including six straight to cap a 12-4 run that got the Millionaires within 17 at 39-22 with about three minutes left in the quarter.
Warren called a timeout during Lenox’s run to get his team refocused.
“I wasn’t happy with our energy when we came out [from half-time],” he said. “Sometimes, when you get a big lead like that, you come out flat in the third. That’s what we did.
“And I knew Lenox was going to come out strong. Coach [Scott] Sibley is a great coach, and he’s going to his kids playing, if we didn’t come out with the same intensity.”
Ullrich snapped the run by getting an offensive rebound and getting fouled in the post with 2:40 left in the third. He made both his free throws to start a 9-2 Mount Everett push to the end of the period.
The fourth quarter started with more bad news for Lenox when Brendan Ward, who battled foul trouble all night, sat down with his fifth personal just 39 seconds into the period.
Ullrich, who also had a game-high 11 rebounds, scored his last point of the game at the foul line with 5:39 left before both coaches started emptying their benches.
Mount Everett will look to build on Tuesday’s non-league win when it gets back into Tri-County North Division action on Friday at home against Ludlow.
Lenox (3-5) returns to Hampshire South play on Thursday when it visits Mahar.
