Spartans Finish Season Strong
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. – Sophia Guete-Ramirez Thursday scored 17 points to lead the Monument Mountain girls basketball team to a 49-41 win over Chicopee in the Spartans’ season finale.
Guete-Ramirez also grabbed seven rebounds for the Spartans, who finished the year with two straight wins and four victories in their last seven games.
The sophomore forward finished in double figures in each of Monument Mountain’s last two games after missing most of the season due to the impact of an injury from last season.
“She started the very first game for us,” Monument Mountain coach Joe Valerio said. “She missed all of last year with a torn [anterior-cruciate ligament]. So a lot of it was just getting the mobility back, getting her knee feeling comfortable.
“Over the last two or three weeks, she was playing a lot of JV minutes, and she was looking really good, moving really well. So we talked to her before the consolation games and said, ‘We’re going to give you a chance. Go make something.
“We gave her an opportunity, and she flourished in it.”
Guete-Ramirez came off the bench on Thursday and scored five points in the second quarter to help the Spartans build an 11-point half-time lead.
It was a tie game when she hit from the elbow to give her team a 14-12 edge and spark an 11-0 run to the break. She then scored in the post to push the lead to four points.
Addison Kramek (10 points) finished the run by getting to the line and converting a pair and dropping in a 3-pointer with an assist from Ynes Bourdon (four points, seven rebounds, three blocks).
Bourdon was another Spartan who made a big impact coming off the bench on Thursday.
“We decided to go small a couple of games ago, and it was at least getting us a different start to games,” Valerio said. “[Bourdon] is embracing the bench. She started most of the year for us. But having an interior threat like her off the bench … I mean, a lot of teams don’t have that. They have one big in the whole game. If we can put one in off the bench, that’s pretty cool.”
The Spartans never trailed after that 11-0 run in the second quarter, but things did get a little dicey in the fourth.
Chicopee used a 13-4 run to get within one point at 42-41 with just less than three minutes to play.
But Guete-Ramirez scored in the post to right the ship.
Kramek hit a 3-pointer, and Guete-Ramirez had a steal that led to a layup for Mallory Lucey as the Spartans closed with a 7-0 spurt to put the game away.
Jaziyah Forte finished with nine points and six rebounds for Monument Mountain, which finished the season with a record of 7-12.
“When I took over the team, I think they had three wins the year before,and we won four last year, so we’re trending in the right direction,” Valerio said. “I like the group we’ve got coming back.
“But I love these seniors. It’s such a great class. They did everything the right way. This group of seniors kind of set the foundation for our next group.”
Photos from this game to come.