Spartans Shoot Past Taconic
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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – Mallory Lucey Thursday scored a game-high 14 points and hit four of Monument Mountain’s eight 3-pointers in a 48-40 win over Taconic.
Addison Kramek and Brooke Decker each scored 10 for the Spartans, who snapped a three-game losing streak by making a conscious effort to take more outside shots.
“I don’t know if it was a game plan, but this past week, we were trying to make changes, and we looked to put more shooters on the floor,” Monument Mountain coach Joe Valerio said. “That was kind of our plan.
“Lately, we’ve been playing really stagnant and not really looking to score. So, we put as many shooters on the floor as we could and let it rip. I trust our girls to shoot, so I’m cool with putting enough shooters out there.”
Three triples of the Spartans’ triples came in an 11-0 run that broke open the game in the second quarter.
After a back-and-forth first quarter, Taconic started the second with a basket in the post from Toni Ahoussi to tie it, 13-13.
But Kramek answered at the other end with a shot from behind the arc, and after a Mackenzie Scarbro basket made it 18-13, Lucey knocked down back-to-back 3s to give the Spartans a double-digit lead.
They maintained that bulge through the third quarter, but Taconic came out to start the fourth quarter ready to go.
Kiannah Josephs (seven points, 13 rebounds) connected from the left wing, Jalan Smith got fouled in transition and made both free throws, and Josephs put back an offensive rebound to quickly make it a two-possession game at 33-27.
Valero called a timeout, and Kramek righted the ship for the Spartans.
She put back offensive rebounds in transition in two straight possessions to again make it a 10-point lead, and after Taconic’s Evellyn Croce (team-high 11 points) scored four straight, Kramek knocked down a 3-pointer to make it 40-31.
“She’s stepping up big,” Valerio said of Kramek. “It was her first start tonight, and she didn’t know until about maybe a half hour before the game started. So she stepped up big. We’re probably going to keep rolling with her.”
Again, Taconic did not quit.
Josephs hit a 3, and Lily Ferris scored in a 7-0 run that got the Thunder within four at 42-38 with about a minute and a half left to play.
A big factor all night keeping Taconic in the game was its defense. The Thunder forced twice as many turnovers as it committed, and the extra possessions allowed the visitors to overcome some of their shooting woes – to a point.
“In the beginning of the year, we were the team throwing turnovers … but our Achilles heel has been our field goal percentage,” Taconic coach Jason Conuel said. “[On Thursday], we got turnovers, we got steals and then we’d miss bunnies or one possession we ran a play and had two players coming right into each other for a key turnover right after we got a turnover from them.
“But it’s a moral victory for us. This is the second game in a row where the defensive intensity has been there for four quarters. We’ve just got to start putting the ball in the basket a lot better.”
Taconic forced a turnover with its pressure defense right after it trimmed the margin to four points, but a missed shot led to a Caroline Becker defensive rebound, and the Monument Mountain senior went the other way for a transition bucket to make it 44-38 with 1 minute, 15 seconds left to play.
Decker then got a steal at one end and a 3-pointer at the other to make it a nine-point game with 41 seconds on the clock.
Croce made a pair of free throws with 34 seconds left to get the margin to seven, but the Thunder ran out of time.
Taconic (1-9) will be on the road Friday at Pioneer Valley Christian.
Monument Mountain (3-7) hosts Lenox on Monday.
“I think our goal is just to be competitive in every game going forward,” Valerio said. “We’ve got more games coming up where I think we can get it. But it’s going to take everybody on our roster.”