NORTH ADAMS -- The McCann Tech boys' basketball team had battled back from an early 16-point deficit to tie the game with 5 seconds left, but St. Mary's' Sam Thresher 28-foot, 3-point shot sunk the Hornets, 52-49 on Friday night.
Josh Superneau had hit a 3 of his own with under a minute to play and a free throw with 5 seconds left to tie the game at 49, but Thresher corralled a loose ball just past center court and, while falling out of bounds, found nothing but net, just as if he had practiced the shot over and over again.
"I thought we played our best game of the season," coach Mike Nykorchuck said. "Very proud of the way we played."
St. Mary's used a 17-2 run in the first quarter to turn a 4-3 McCann lead into a 20-6 St. Mary's advantage. Justin Crosby highlighted the run with a pair of dunks. Nykorchuck called him one of the best players in Western Mass.
McCann used two time outs during the spurt to stop the momentum, but it wasn't until Nykorchuck changed from a diamond-and-1 defense to man during the second time out that the Hornets stopped the bleeding.
Justin Cote had the challenge of guarding Crosby, which Nykorchuck said he did a great job of. Crosby finished with just 19 points.
The change in defense allowed the Hornets to chip away at the big deficit through the second and third quarters. They had it down to two at the end of the third and played back-and-forth basketball the final eight
"They say coaching decides close games," Nykorchuck said. "I guess I got to get better. Once I do that, we'll be fine."
This completes McCann's first time through the Tri-County schedule.
Hoosac girls' basketball
DALTON -- The Warriors fell far behind the Hurricanes, only to rally and win it in the fourth quarter, 42-40.
"We were having some trouble with their pressure, and we fell behind by 14 early in the third quarter," said Wahconah coach June Blake, "but we picked up our pressure and started coming back."
Shannon Lussier tied the game with a jump shot with about three minutes left. A minute later, Catherine Lewis put Wahconah ahead for good. Lussier's 15 led the winners, while Jen Gale led Hoosac with 14.
Hoosac offense was clicking early to the tune of a 28-18 lead at halftime, but scored just 12 in the final 16 minutes. The Warriors, meanwhile, doubled that to complete the comeback.
McCann girls' basketball
MONSON -- No Hornet crossed into double digits in a big 59-26 loss to Monson on the road.
Mary Nguyen and Emijah Barton both had six points to lead the McCann offense, which struggled through the first 16 minutes. The Hornets scored just five points in the first quarter and followed it up with a two-point second quarter. They trailed by 17 after the first and 27 at the break.
"They're a very good team," coach Mike Dowling said. "We were really out-manned in the first half. We haven't been scoring any points."
One person who had no trouble scoring early was Karyce Welsh, who had four of her five 3-pointers in the first quarter. Two came in quick succession to help Monson out to the big 22-5 first-quarter lead.
Dowling said Monson had some good size, which helped it to move the ball around -- or over -- his smaller squad.
"With Mary only scoring six points, you're not going to stay in too many of these games," he said.
Greylock girls' basketball
LEE -- Eileen Dooley scored a game-high 16 points to lead Lee to its 10th win of the season, 56-32 over Greylock, qualifying it for the Western Mass. tournament.
The home side jumped out to a 31-15 halftime advantage and controlled the game from there. Lucy Barrett's 14 points led the Mounties.
Lee offense was in sync from the start, posting 16 and 15 points in the first two quarters, respectively. The Mounties struggled, scoring no more than eight in either quarter. They finally reached double digits in the third (10 points), but it was too little too late.
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