Division 3 boys basketball: Monument eliminates Frontier Regional in quarterfinals

GREAT BARRINGTON — Almost every time it looked like Monument Mountain was going to end Frontier Regional’s season, the Red Hawks were able to stop the top-seeded Spartans from opening up an insurmountable lead in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament quarterfinals.

It was that one time when they didn’t that proved to be the difference.

Kevin Troiano scored five consecutive points for Monument, one coming on a 3-point shot with time running out and the other off a Red Hawk turnover as the Spartans beat No. 8 Frontier, 70-54, Saturday afternoon.

“I’m proud of the guys,” Frontier coach Ben Barshefsky said. “They had a good season.”

It was a season that came to an abrupt end midway through the third quarter.

Troiano, who had not made a 3-point basket all season, was alone on the left side of the court, almost in the stands. With time running down, Noah Helmke threw a pass to Troiano and he launched a shot as the shot clock ran out. The buzzer went off as the ball went through the hoop.

“That was absolutely huge for us,” said Troiano, who finished with 13 points and a team-high nine rebounds. “We knew coming into the third quarter that we had to create separation because you don’t want them hanging around. As the senior captain, I knew it was probably going to fall on me.”

Then Troiano followed up with a steal and a score. What was a five-point lead, became 10, and the Red Hawks couldn’t get much closer.

The five points proved to be critical because the Red Hawks’ Kalen Evans scored on consecutive hoops to start the third quarter, keeping the Red Hawks in contact. Barshefsky called a timeout to set up some strategy.

The defensive strategy seemed to be working, as Monument burned most of the 30-second clock trying to get a shot. Instead, Troiano threw up a prayer that was answered.

With the win, the Spartans (18-3) will play No. 5 Wahconah (14-8), Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. at the Curry Hicks Cage.

Monument led by as many as 12 points in the first half, taking a 20-8 lead on two Herrick foul shots with 7:21 left in the second. Carsten Carey, who had a game-high 22 points, scored 10 in the second quarter to keep the Red Hawks close. He scored his team’s final seven points, as Frontier closed to 30-26 at halftime.

“Credit (Frontier). Tournament time, you can’t take anything for granted,” Monument coach Mike Saporito said. “Every team is here to win and every team is going to play as hard as they can to not make it their last game.”

The Spartans forced 23 turnovers and had 16 steals. Troiano had his six while Tristan Alston chipped in with four.

“It was a product of their pressure,” Barshefsky said. “We struggled the entire night from a ball-security standpoint. To Monument’s credit, they were doing a great job of getting in the passing lanes. I thought we could have done a better job coming to the basketball.”

Monument Mountain 70,
Frontier Regional 54

Frontier (14-8)

Sharp 0-3-3, Evans 3-0-6, Hoffman 0-00, Litskowski 3-3-10, Muzyka 1-0-2, Morse 4-0-9, C. Carey 7-8-22, Barrington 0-0-0, Graves 0-0-0, P. Carey 0-0-0, Pattavinna 0-2-2. 18-16-54.

Monument (18-3)

Higgins 1-0-2, Brown 3-1-7, Powell 4-0-8, Alston 1-0-2, Carlson 3-1-7, Troiano 4-4-13, Brownson 2-0-4, Herrick 8-5-21, Helmke 2-0-4, Robbins 0-0-0, Shultis 1-0-2, Henry 0-0-0. Totals 29-11-70.

3-Pointers— Frontier 2 (Morse, Litskowski). Monument 1 (Troiano).