DALTON — Wahconah boys basketball coach Dustin Belcher knew he would need to add some wrinkles to the gameplan in order to beat a foe the Warriors had already played twice this season in the Berkshire North.

His players, were ready to go against Hoosac Valley regardless.

 

"Oh yeah. Super pumped up. We went 1-1 with them, they beat us at home and that really stuck with us," said Wahconah senior Zak Bernardo. "We just practiced hard all week. We wanted this so bad, we had to get it."

Bernardo had a career night off the bench, Wahconah's full-court pressure wreaked havoc and the Warriors got it: a 73-58 victory over the Hurricanes in the Western Massachusetts Division III tournament opening round.

 

The fourth-seeded Warriors held off No. 13 Hoosac, moving into a quarterfinal matchup against Murdock on Friday night back in Dalton. The No. 12 seed knocked off No. 5 Renaissance 76-66 on Tuesday.

Before the Warriors could think about any of that, they had to contend with a young and hungry Hurricanes team, led by star senior Izaha Stubbs. Stubbs averaged over 30 a game against the Warriors in the prior two meetings, so Belcher's wrinkle was to not allow Hoosac's offense even get set up.

 

Led by Tom O'Connor at the point and flanked by the likes of Easton Eberwein — who sustained a cut on his chin and used three different jerseys to stay in the game, Griffin Salvini, Kevin Huban and Bernardo, the Warriors whipped out a full-court press that baffled Hoosac from the get-go.

 

"They did a good job rattling some of the younger players that we have," said Hoosac coach Ben Ranier. "We're built around a young sophomore and junior class. Our entire team, outside Izaha, this is their first Western Mass. game. It's a learning experience. You take it on the chin, but it sped us up and we couldn't adjust until our second time out. We were better the rest of the game."

 

Hoosac got a pair of 3-pointers from Cole Desroches and Carson Meczywor, but that was about it for the opening stanza. Meanwhile, the Warriors rode an electric all-around start from O'Connor and seven points from Huban to a 23-7 advantage.

 

"I thought we did a good job coming out, giving them a different look. I thought that got us jump-started," said Belcher. "The kids were just ready to play. Didn't matter who it was going to be today."

 

Huban, the county's leading scorer, finished with a game-high 24 points, but actually wasn't a major factor for much of the game. Hoosac's Logan Davis came off the bench and did a solid job, and until the 3:30 mark of the third period, those first seven points were all the senior star had mustered.

 

While Davis did that, Stubbs got things going a little bit. Trailing 30-11, Stubbs got his first points on a drive with 4:50 left before halftime. Meczywor then found Davis for a trey, and Stubbs took a charge that led to a Luc Levesque jumper. Stubbs' drive with a minute to play drew the Hurricanes within 32-22.

 

O'Connor was there when the Warriors needed him, though. Luke Hescock grabbed an offensive rebound in the closing seconds, kicked to Bernardo, who found O'Connor for a straightaway triple at the halftime buzzer.

Meczywor opened the third quarter with a 3-pointer, but Bernardo — earning the second-half start — took apass from O'Connor and calmly answered from beyond the arc.Bernardo hit four of Wahconah's surprise six, 3-pointers, and finished with a career-high 15 points. His fourth and final trey made it 46-28, and the Warriors were back off to the races.

 

"That's the Zac we see every day. He's had some really great ballgames for us this year, he has a true sixth-man mentality," said Belcher. "He just played on a whole other level tonight."

 

Huban scored 17 of his 24 in the second half, including 10 in the fourth quarter. O'Connor finished with 18 points, 10 rebounds and five assists, while Hescock chipped in 10 points.

 

Meczywor knocked down four, 3-points and totaled 21 points, while Stubbs finished with 15 and Desroches nine.

Stubbs wraps up a stellar high school career with 1,304 total points, good for 20th all-time in Berkshire County boys basketball scoring and fourth in the Hoosac Valley record books.

 

"I'm ecstatic. This program hadn't been in Western Mass. in three years," said Ranier. "It's going to sting for the seniors right now, having to take this loss as a final game, but nonetheless, they should take a lot of solace and realize the appreciation for leaving the program in a better place than they found it. There's been a lot of changes, and they put the program in the position it's in. "

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HOOSAC VALLEY (58)

Meczywor 7-3-21, Desroches 3-0-9, Stubbs 6-3-15, Swistak 0-0-0, Kastner 1-4-6, Davis 2-0-5, Owensby 0-0-0, Richardson 0-0-0, Levesque 1-0-2, Harrington 0-0-0. Totals 20-10-58.

 

WAHCONAH (73)

Mendez 0-0-0, Bernardo 5-1-15, Huban 8-8-24, Voight 0-0-0, Eberwein 0-0-0, Salvini 1-2-4, Davis 1-0-2, O'Connor 8-0-18, Gallagher 0-0-0, Trager 0-0-0, Astore 0-0-0, Hescock 5-0-10. Totals 28-11-73.

 

Hoosac     7     15     10     26     —     58

Wahconah     23     12     19     19     —     73

 

3-point goals — HV 8 (Meczywor 4, Desroches 3, Davis); W 6 (Bernardo 4, O'Connor 2).

Mike Walsh can be reached at mwalsh@berkshireeagle.com, at @CLNS_Walsh on Twitter and 413-496-6240.