Mount Greylock Rolls to Franklin Tourney Crown
TURNERS FALLS, Mass. -- The problem with starting your season at the all-varsity Franklin Tech Holiday Tournament is that you don't get games for your JV team.
The solution: Put the title game away midway through the third quarter, and give your bench plenty of experience.
Tanley Drake scored 21 points to secure tournament MVP honors on Friday night as the Mount Greylock girls improved to 2-0 with a 65-22 win over the host Eagles.
First-year Mount Greylock coach Jabari Powell got to pull all his starters with three minutes left in the third quarter after Madison Powell set up Madison Drake for a 3-pointer to make it 51-13.
"You never know when they're going to get in later in the year," Coach Powell said of his reserves. "As much experience as you can get them, the better.
"We have some swingers here, and they all got a decent amount of time, in both games, in the second half, which is great."
Mount Greylock looked great almost from the jump.
After Franklin Tech scored the game's first two points, Naelyn Robinson drove the right win for a bucket that ignited a 20-1 Mount Greylock run that stretched into the second quarter.
Robinson (11 points) added a triple in the run, which ended when Drake scored in transition for the first points of the second quarter to make it 20-5.
Drake, who scored 30 points in Thursday's season opener, added five more second-quarter points to help the Mounties extend their lead to 37-13 at half-time.
"When Tanley is on, she's fantastic," Coach Powell said. "She's got a great head for the game, really high IQ. And we're excited to see what she does."
Mount Greylock built its lead largely on the strength of its defense, which forced 29 first-half turnovers -- at least half a direct result of the Mounties' full-court press.
"I just put that in, and we're still working on it," Powell said of the pressure. "There are some things we've got to fine tune, but for the beginning of the year, they're doing pretty good with it."
Madison Powell (seven points, six reboundsin, nine steals) was one of the keys to that defensive effort.
"She's an aggressive player," Jabari Powell said. "She gets after the ball. She does a really good job with it. And she's looking up after she gets the steal, which helps our transition."
Madison Powell closed the first half with a pair of free throws and opened the second half with another make at the line as Mount Greylock scored 26 straight points to build that 51-13 lead. It did not allow a third-quarter point by the Eagles until all the Mount Greylock starters were watching the action from the bench.
Madison Drake joined Tanley and Robinson in double figures with 11 points to earn a berth on the all-tournament team.
Mount Greylock will be on the road again on Wednesday when it heads to South County to take on Lee.
Photos from this game to come.