Granby runs away from Monument in WMass Division 3 Girls Tournament

GRANBY — A second-half surge for the No. 8 Granby girls basketball team lifted the Rams past No. 9 Monument Mountain in the first round of the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament on Tuesday.

Scoring just 16 points in the first half, the Granby offense exploded after the break, scoring 19 points each in the third and fourth quarters en route to a 54-31 victory over the Spartans.

“Second half we made shots. We made threes, we made backdoor cuts, we got the ball up in transition quick and got layups, so we did a lot of good things in the second half to score,” Rams coach Tom Burke said.

Burke and freshman Nora Young said that Granby didn’t really do anything differently in the second half, the shots just started falling.

“We found our composure, settled the ball, we were able to take good shots, and we just hit,” Young said.

The Rams struggled to sink shots in the opening quarter, scoring just six points. But Granby closed out the first half with an 8-2 run, which was a sign of things to come over the final two quarters.

The third quarter ended with another run for the Rams, this time a 10-2 stretch that brought the lead to 14. In the final frame, another long run clinched the win, as Granby outscored Monument 17-5 over the final six-plus minutes of the game.

“In the third quarter I thought we set the tone and we didn’t slow down in the fourth quarter,” Burke said.

Young finished with a game-high 20 points and 16 rebounds, with the Rams’ offense running through Young on a number of possessions.

“She just opens things up for us so much in the middle. If we get her the ball there, she’s not looking to always just score herself, she made some nice passes, she got people who were open,” Burke said. “When we get it to her everything kind of collapses. She can pass out of it, she can shoot, she can drive, she’s just an all-around player.”

Young’s performance was impressive considering this is her first year playing in the post.

“She was a wing player last year as an eighth-grader, then she grew like crazy and I told her, ‘You have to play the five a little this year.’ She can handle it,” Burke said.

Mallory Beauregard added 15 points in the win.

“I thought she was awesome. She hit some big threes when the game was kind of close and she has really good passing, so she played really well,” Young said

Katie Sullivan also stuffed the stat sheet for the Rams, tallying six assists, five points, and four steals.

Granby now faces the challenge of traveling to No. 1 Hoosac Valley (18-2) on Friday for a second-round matchup at 7 p.m.

The Rams are all too familiar with the Hurricanes, as Hoosac has knocked Granby out of the tournament each of the past three years.

Burke said the key to Friday’s game will be the Rams’ ability to combat the Hurricanes’ press.

“It’s a hard team to go through a game with, the whole game,” Burke said. “You can make little runs and do OK, but it’s really tough against them. That’s why they’ve won four years in a row, but we’re inviting the challenge, it should be great.”

Granby 54, Monument 31

Monument (10-11)

McLaughlin 2-0-10, Powell 0-3-3, Saporito 2-0-4, Rada 1-2-4, Brown 3-0-7, Sheridan 1-1-3. Totals 11-6-31

Granby (11-10)

Croteau 3-0-7, Frappier 0-0-0, Sexton 1-2-4, Sullivan 0-5-5, McCreary 0-0-0, M. Beauregard 6-1-15, A. Beauregard 1-0-3, Bergeron 0-0-0, Young 7-5-20. Totals 18-13-54

3-Pointers—Monument 3 (McLaughlin 2, Brown), Granby 5 (Croteau, M. Beauregard 2, A. Beauregard, Young).