WESTHAMPTON — The sixth-seeded Hampshire Regional boys basketball team defeated No. 11 Monument Mountain, 61-59, Monday night in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament first round.
After trailing for nearly the entire second half, senior center Matt Babyak hit a pair of tiebreaking free throws in the final seconds to seal the win for the Raiders (14-7).
“It’s about surviving and advancing, that’s all it is,” said Hampshire coach Claud Salomao. “This team last year didn’t know how to win these games. We lost a lot of these games that we really could have won. This year, these guys settled down, and that really speaks volumes to the character that they have. They just concentrated on the play in front of them.”
Hampshire will travel to face No. 3 Palmer (19-1) Thursday at 7 p.m.
Babyak led all scorers with 22 points. He had eight points in the fourth with back-to-back clutch shots in the final minute. Fellow seniors Jacob Bihler and David Helems added 15 and 13, respectively.
The trio led an experienced group of seniors. Just three players on Hampshire’s roster will be with the team next year.
“We do it for the family,” said Babyak of his teammates. “We’re a really close team, we’re brothers and we do it for one another. As long as we stick together, we will stay composed.”
The game was tightly contested throughout. The largest lead of any kind was an eight-point advantage for Hampshire midway through the second quarter, which was swiftly erased by a 13-4 Monument run going into halftime. Despite being in foul trouble and missing outside shots early, the visiting Spartans entered the break up 32-31.
The second half began like the first one ended. Monument’s hot shooting continued to keep Hampshire out of reach, but a back-and-fourth third quarter culminated with a 49-46 Monument lead.
Pace and physicality became common themes in the final quarter. Both teams were over the foul limit early in the quarter, but neither were able to consistently make free throws and pull away. The teams combined to shoot 8 of 20 from the line in the last frame.
Helems made 1 of 2 free throws with 1:04 left to pull Hampshire within 58-57.
After Hampshire’s Tim Krasun intercepted a Monument pass, Babyak hit a turnaround jumper with 32 seconds left to give the Raiders their first lead of the half, 59-58. On the other end, Monument was called for a travel, giving Hampshire the ball and the lead with 11 seconds to go.
With 7.3 seconds to play, Hampshire’s Connor Bryant was fouled and awarded two shots. Bryant missed both free throws and Monument senior Joe Aberdale was fouled on the rebound with 5.8 seconds left.
Aberdale’s first free throw tied the game, but his second one missed. Babyak grabbed the rebound, was fouled and made both free throws in the final seconds to close out the victory.
Since losing to Hopkins Academy on Dec. 10, Palmer has won 19 games straight, and has the most wins of any team in the Division III tournament.
“They might be the best team in the field, quite honestly,” said Salomao. “Right now we’re concentrating on (ourselves), and we’ll start focusing on Palmer later tonight when we get home and start breaking down film. That’s the life of a coach.”
NOTE: Hampshire point guard Greg Laroche was injured in the first quarter and did not return.
Hampshire 61, Monument 59
Monument (12-9)
Newey 1-0-2, Riegel 3-1-9, Carlson 0-0-0, Prince 4-2-12, Troiano 3-2-8, Piepho 0-0-0, Aberdale 6-2-16, Herrick 1-0-2, Tinker 5-0-10, Totals 23-7-59
Hampshire (14-7)
Provost 0-0-0, Helems 3-7-13, Laroche 0-0-0, Kocaman 0-0-0, Legowski 0-0-0, Pellegrini 0-0-0, Bryant 1-0-2, Sawyer 2-3-7, Babyak 8-6-22, Bihler 7-1-15, Krasun 1-0-2, Totals 22-17-61
|
Monument |
15 |
17 |
18 |
9 |
—59 |
|
Hampshire |
15 |
16 |
17 |
13 |
—61 |
3-Pointers—Monument 6 (Riegel 2, Prince 2, Aberdale 2), Hampshire 0