SOUTH HADLEY – With the game on the line, Granby could not miss.
Locked in a tight contest with just minutes left on the clock, the Rams found themselves in the bonus Thursday night. The visitors made 10 trips to the free throw in the final quarter, and knocked down 17 freebies to propel them to a 63-53 win over South Hadley on the Tigers’ Senior Night.
From the opening tip-off, it was a loud and emotional game. Granby packed the visiting bleachers and both student sections traded barbs back and forth throughout.
The Rams ended the game with the possession and dribbled out the clock. As the seconds ticked down, Brandon Wishart yelled in triumph and hyped up his school’s fans.
“If the [other] crowd’s talking, we always want to silence them,” Granby’s Nate Breault said on the crowd. “It’s a great feeling to hit that shot and then turn back and be like, ‘What are you talking about?’”
Breault and the Rams let their play do the talking for them, but South Hadley didn’t make it easy. The Tigers jumped out to a 8-4 lead in the opening quarter, but Breault knocked down two baskets and Wishart hit a triple at the buzzer to take back the lead heading into the second.
It was like that for the remaining two quarters. As usual, Breault paced his team offensively, but he was matched step-for-step by South Hadley’s Colin Quinn, who answered right back for the Tigers. Breault and Quinn each went into halftime leading their respective teams with 11 points, and it was still anyone’s game at the half, with the Rams leading just 23-19.
The Tigers came out fast in the third quarter, putting Granby on its heels in the opening minutes, but the Rams recovered enough to hold their lead, heading into the final quarter up 36-33.
That was where the tide’s shifted in Granby’s favor.
“We came out of that quarter… and it was just like, this is the game right here. If we could get a two-possession lead, that gives us some wiggle room to have a mistake on defense, it allows you to make a turnover,” Granby coach Dylan Dubuc said. “I just challenged them – what can we do to start this quarter to build a two-possession lead, three-possession lead? And then Nate just did what he does. What a performance out of him.”
Granby answered its coach’s call in the fourth quarter. Breault knocked down a bucket to open the final frame, and then Granby hit back-to-back triples – the first by Breault, and the second from Tyler Sudbury. The 8-0 run forced South Hadley to take a timeout, down 44-33 with 5:50 to go.
The visiting bench and fans leapt to their feet, and that energy spurred the Rams to the finish line. The closest South Hadley got the rest of the way was a seven-point gap when Quinn drilled a 3 with a minute to go, but Granby’s free throw game was rock solid, and the Rams sealed the deal from the stripe.
It was an extra special game for Dubuc. Prior to his time at Granby, Dubuc was a South Hadley star playe during his time in high school. He was the point guard on South Hadley’s 2005 Western Mass. title team.
On Tuesday, Dubuc downplayed Thursday’s matchup that would take place back at his old home gym, but changed his tune after the emotional win.
“I’m not gonna lie, it’s a little special for sure,” Dubuc said, flashing a grin.
Dubuc, who still lives in South Hadley, said he still pays particular attention to the Tigers, who entered Thursday’s tilt 7-3 in their last 10 games and playing well.
“I still live in town so I follow these guys,” Dubuc said. “They rattled off a bunch of wins, even their losses early were close, and they play in a tough league… there’s no cupcakes on their schedule. So we absolutely knew it was gonna be a back and forth tough-it-out game.”
Both teams are gearing up for what they hope will be a long postseason run. The Tigers are currently ranked No. 14 in Division 4, and Granby is seeded No. 7 in Division 5. Both were glad to have a playoff-level atmosphere to get ready for the playoffs.
“We talked about that before the game. You want to play in front of a full house and you want to play loud,” South Hadley coach Chris Gerber said. “There’s a lot to be learned from tonight. So it’s a good one to have going in (to the playoffs), and we are going in and that’s the most important thing.”
Dubuc added that playing in that kind of intense situation was something that not all of these players had experienced before with COVID-19 restrictions in place last year. Now that they’re able to play in front of a crowd again, he’s hoping they’ll soak it all in.
“I told them, enjoy the moment. This is high school basketball, you guys should have been playing in 20 of these games last year, 20 more this year, and they’re finally getting the chance,” Dubuc said. “They’re stepping up and they’re enjoying the moment and we’re playing our best basketball right now.”
Granby is a team that can score, and its flashiest players are its offensive stars – players like Breault, Wishart, Ryan Gaughan and Tyler Sudsbury, among others. But Dubuc made sure to point out the ‘glue guys’ that hold the team together – Robert L’Abbee and Carter White.
“Rob and Carter have been the glue guys all year. Listen, it’s no secret. We have those three senior guards, you put Tyler in the mix, a senior guard as well. But those guys are what make us a full team,” Dubuc said.