St. Mary’s Dave Labrecque (4) lays the ball up over the Franklin Tech defense Monday night at Westfield South Middle School. (Photo by Chris Putz)
St. Mary’s Anthony Garde (24) attempts an acrobatic shot, slicing through the Franklin Tech defense. (Photo by Chris Putz)
St. Mary’s Mike Sheridan (33) looks to drive the baseline. (Photo by Chris Putz)
St. Mary’s Matt Plasse, left, sizes up his opponent before making a move. (Photo by Chris Putz)
Saints’ Alex Jez backs in to the low post as he dribbles the ball. (Photo by Chris Putz)
WESTFIELD – The Franklin Tech Eagles soared in and clipped the halos from the St. Mary’s Saints in a key Tri-County League high school boys’ basketball matchup Monday night at Westfield South Middle School.
St. Mary’s battled Franklin Tech for two quarters, but struggled to keep up in the second half. The Eagles outscored the Saints 32-7 in the third quarter en route to a 76-33 victory.
“The third quarter was where it all turned around,” St. Mary’s coach Tom Sheridan said.
In the first half, St. Mary’s protected the ball and played fairly solid defense. The Saints managed to keep Franklin Tech close. The Eagles led 28-17 at the half.
Franklin Tech turned up the pressure a notch in the third and fourth quarters, forcing 15 second-half turnovers from St. Mary’s. With the victory, the Eagles improved to 7-3.
The Saints fell to 1-6 and are in desperate need of a win to keep their Western Massachusetts Division III tournament hopes alive. Teams are required to have a .500 record or better, or finish first or second in their respective leagues.
St. Mary’s will host key league rival Gateway (2-6), another team struggling to keep its postseason chances intact. The Gators pulled off a huge victory Monday night against the Holyoke Catholic Gaels.
The two teams will meet Wednesday night at Westfield South Middle School at 7 p.m.
Gateway 52, Holyoke Catholic 51
Austin Cook exploded for 20 points to lead Gateway to its second win of the season last night. Zach Mackechnie added 10.
Nathan Powers scored a game-high 22 points for Holyoke Catholic.
Westfield Voc-Tech 46, Pioneer Valley Christian School 26
Logan Vanveldhuizen led all scorers with 22 points for Voc-Tech, which won its third straight game after starting the season 0-4. Bryan Robles had 11 for the Tigers.
It was a solid defensive effort Voke, which also saw Robert Barnowski and Tyler Cyr collect their first varsity baskets of the season.
