Gould scores 15 in Manchester ‘W’ –
Story and photos by Mark Carpenter –
Tuesday night, Jan. 17 marked the first meeting on the hardwood of the 2016-17 season between county rivals Manchester and North Adams as the Greyhounds entertained the Green Devils in Southern Hills Athletic Conference action. Getting a big game of 15 points from 6’4” sophomore Shaun Gould, the Hounds used an 18-2 third quarter run to break open a close game and claim a 61-50 victory over their visitors.
“We kind of put four quarters together tonight for the first time, maybe all season,” said Manchester head coach Joey Darnell. “I always worry about the third quarter, but tonight that was our best quarter.”
The Devils struggled on offense all evening, but managed the game’s first basket on a runner in the lane by Patrick England on their first possession, but the Hounds countered with seven straight, two buckets by Colton Thornburg and a three-pointer from Kaulen Cox. North Adams then reeled off five in a row, tying the game on a three from the corner by Elijah Young.
A basket by the Devils’ Austin McCormick deadlocked the game at 9 apiece but a stick back by Gould and a three-point goal by Gage Lucas gave the Greyhounds a 14-10 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
The second stanza began with the Devils capitalizing on a Manchester turnover for a basket by Ryan Shupert and then tying the game for the fourth time on a bucket by Justin Knechtly. A Gould basket put the Hounds back in front and later scores from Thornburg and Bryan Young stretched the home team’s lead out to 21-16. Another Lucas three from the corner, two Thornburg free throws, and another score inside from Gould capped off an 11-3 Manchester run to end the half and the Hounds went to the halftime break with a 28-19 margin.
The third quarter proved to be disastrous for the visiting Green Devils, even after they scored the first two baskets of the frame, one by Knechtly and the other by Colt Shumaker. After that, it was all downhill as North Adams only managed one basket the rest of the period, a bucket by England at the 3:10 mark. In the meantime, a three-pointer by Manchester’s Jamie Combs spelled the beginning of an 18-2 Greyhound run over the final six and a half minutes of the third quarter.
Combs hit another three in that time span as did Cox. While Gould continued to control the play in the paint, getting the old-fashioned three-point play and then a stick back by Thornburg to go on top 46-25 after three periods of action.
“I told our kids at halftime that the first couple of minutes of the third quarter were big,” said Coach Darnell. “We knew North Adams would make some adjustments and come out swinging, but we had an answer.”
After being outscored 18-6 in that third quarter, the Devils regained some composure as the fourth frame began, getting baskets from Shumaker and Young plus three-pointers by Knechtly and England to pull back within 50-37 with 3:45 to play in the game.
After the Hounds got a pair of Gould charity tosses, baskets by Knechtly and England made it 52-41, as the Devils continued to creep back into the game, but with time definitely not on their side. An England trey and a bucket by Logan Rogers made it 58-48, but only 1:07 remained on the clock. All the Hounds had to do was hit some free throws in the final minute to keep the Devils at bay and one by Lucas and two by Young did the trick as the home team held on for their sixth win of the season and second in a row, downing the Green Devils by the final count of 61-50.
The victorious Greyhounds, now 6-8 on the year, 2-15 in the SHAC, were led in scoring by three players in double figures. Shaun Gould put together one of his best games of the season, leading the way with 15 points, followed by Kaulen Cox with 13 and Colton Thornburg with 12. Bryan Young added 8 for the winners.
“Tonight was Shaun’s best game by far,” said Darnell. “It makes a difference when he can get his hands on the ball and finish around the rim. He was a real bright spot tonight. I felt like we played a lot better when he was in the game.”
North Adams fell to 8-7 for the season (4-4 in SHAC play) and was led in scoring 14 points apiece from Patrick England and Justin Knechtly. The Devils struggled mightily from the foul line, sinking just 6 of 16 attempts.
Both teams were off the rest of the week and will return to action on Saturday, Jan. 21 in the Coach Young Classic, hosted by North Adams. Manchester will open the day’s action at 10 a.m., battling the Portsmouth Trojans, while the Green Devils will tip off at 8:45 p.m. in the final game of the day, facing off with the Tigers from Glenwood New Boston.
“We have a pretty tough game on Saturday, but I think it is a winnable game,” added Coach Darnell.
North Adams
10 9 6 25 –50
Manchester
14 14 18 15 –61
N. Adams (50): England 6 0-1 14, Shupert 1 2-2 4, Knechtly 6 1-4 14, Daulton 0 1-2 1, Young 2 0-0 5, Shumaker 2 1-3 5, Rogers 2 1-4 5, McCormick 1 0-0 2, Team 20 6-16 50.
Manchester (62): Gould 6 3-3 15, Lucas 2 1-3 7, Combs 2 0-0 6, Thornburg 5 2-2 12, Young 3 2-6 8, Cox 5 1-2 13, Team 23 9-16 61.
Three-Point Goals:
N. Adams (4): England 2, Knechtly 1, Young 1
Manchester (6): Lucas 2, Combs 2, Cox 2
In the preceding JV content, the Green Devils JV squad improved to 7-8 with a 35-25 victory. North Adams raced to a 22-6 lead after one quarter and never looked back. Bryant Lung led the winners with 11 points, while Manchester was topped by Ethan Pennywitt, who also had 11.
