Wildcats recover from Hoophall loss to upend Pittsfield and Lenox

SPRINGFIELD – Lee girls’ basketball tradition was on the big stage last Thursday at the Hoophall Classic, when the ‘Cats took on central Massachusetts powerhouse Quaboag (10-0).

Unfortunately, Lee let that game slip away.

Despite holding a 12-point third quarter lead, Quaboag scored seven points at the end of the third to cut the deficit to 42-37, before relying on their stingy defense, as Lee could only muster nine points the rest of the way in the 55-51 loss.

“We had that one minute where we let them back in the game,” said Lee Head Coach Gary Wellington. “I was proud of my girls – we fought back hard – just a couple bad decisions.”

After an Eileen Dooley drive to the basket with an and-1, which put the Wildcats up 40-28 with 3:56 left in the third, it appeared the Wildcats were going to run away with the victory after Stephanie Young (25 points, 14 rebounds) hit a jumper to put Lee up 42-30.

However, Quaboag is not 10-0 for nothing, as their big Brittany Herring (15 points, 11 rebounds) and point guard Jessica Korzec (21 points) began to battle back.

Korzec’s steal and layup, with 1:19 left in the third, cut the Lee lead to 42-34, before a Herring block an and-1 underneath made it a 42-37 Lee advantage after three quarters.

Quaboag’s Alexandria Plante then banked a three to cut the Lee lead to 46-44, and Korzec added a steal and layup to tie the game at 48-48 with 2:30 left.

Korzec then found Herring underneath to put Quaboag up for good with 2:18 left at 50-48.

“We knew that coming in that they would run the screen and roll and kick it backwards – so we adjusted – but [Korzec] got loose and got the ball to the opposite block [Herring],” Wellington said.

Lee’s best shot, at the end of the game, came with 27 seconds left as the girls pressured the inbounds ball and got a turnover in their own end. However, Dooley’s drive to the basket fell short, as she didn’t get the foul called as Lee trailed 53-50.

“I wanted them to take some open shots but we decided to take the ball to the hole,” Wellington said. “It is what it is, and I am happy with how we played – and it was a great event down here.”

While the Hoophall game didn’t go their way, the Wildcats bounced back on Saturday night with a 54-44 win over Pittsfield in the Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase at Taconic.

Young was immense against Pittsfield, as she had an unstoppable 29 points, while Dooley chipped in 13 points.

Lee kept the train rolling Tuesday night, as they beat their cross-town rival Lenox, 58-52.

This time the Wildcats got balanced scoring from their starters as Moriah McKenna chipped in 10 points and Courtney Picard led all scorers, for the first time all season, with 19 points. Dooley had 11 points, while Young had only eight points.

“I was happy with Moriah McKenna – with how she is getting her hands on the basketball – hopefully she will get better and better,” Wellington said.

Lenox was led by Liz Mitts and Hayden Zinchuk, who both had 15 points in the loss.

Posted by Tim Davis on January 24, 2013. Filed under High School Sports,Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry