Vikings sail by Saints
Big nights from Rivera, Castillo help Smith Voke upend St. Mary’s
By PETER FRANCIS
Intern
WESTFIELD – After an uncharacteristically nice February day in Westfield, the boys basketball team of St. Mary’s High School were looking to pick up a nice midseason win at South Middle School. Apparently, the weather wasn’t quite as warm in Northampton, as the boys of Smith Vocational High School arrived in Westfield looking to shake off the winter blues, which they did with authority, earning an 81-60 road win over the Saints.
Behind a big opening quarter from Smith guard Jordan Castillo, the Vikings broke open a 31-13 lead at the end of the first frame. Castillo went on an 11-point run of his own midway through the quarter, including three big three-pointers which helped to spur on the sizeable Smith fan section that made the trek from Hamp.
The Vikings main pivot man, senior center Allan Rivera, scored 5 points of his own during the frame, displaying a deft outside shooting touch as he ravaged the St. Mary’s interior with his rebounding. Saints forward Matt Plasse keyed the St. Mary’s attack with a 3 to begin the second quarter, as the home squad put up quite the fight in the second quarter, drawing fouls left and right and taking it into the teeth of the Smith defense. The quarter ended with a Dave Labrecque lay up at the buzzer to cut the lead to 16.
Coming out of the locker room, St. Mary’s came alive, as Labrecque and sophomore post man Brendon Mickavey combated the Vikings’ bigs fearlessly. Midway through the quarter, the Saints began to chip away at the Smith lead, getting it down to 10 on several occasions. But by the end of the quarter, it was apparent that the Smith Voke Vikes were in the driver’s seat.
St. Mary’s senior forward Alex Jez was a force in the final frame, scoring 5 of his 13 points in the fourth, including a coast to coast lay-up that brought the Saints’ faithful to their feet. However, the Vikings were able to coast a bit of their own, deploying some of their less experienced varsity players as the contest wound down.
The Vikings were led by Castillo’s 27 points, followed by 19 from Rivera. St. Mary’s was led by Matt Plasse’s 25 points, as the junior continues his brilliant shooting season, and Jez’s 13. The Saints are off until Thursday when they make the trek up to Turners Falls to face Franklin County Tech.
