AYER — The Monty Tech boys basketball team jumped out in front early on Tuesday afternoon and never looked back.
The Bulldogs brought home third place, winning the consolation game of the General Holman Memorial Tournament with an 89-17 thumping of the White Tigers of the Sizer School inside Ayer-Shirley Regional’s Paul K. McGuane Memorial Gym.
Monty Tech improves to 2-3 on the season following the win while Sizer falls to 0-5.
“I’ve said it from the beginning, we have 14 ballers on this team. This is a great group, they’re a fun group,” said Monty Tech head coach Chris Foley. “Everybody saw minutes and everybody played well. We had some starters that only played eight minutes. Sizer is young and they are going to get better as the season progresses. This wasn’t really a get right game for us because we weren’t doing anything wrong. We’re playing well.”
The Bulldogs dropped a 62-56 decision to Lunenburg in the semifinals of the Holman Tournament, while Sizer fell 93-15 to host Ayer-Shirley to set up Tuesday’s matchups.
“Our boys played hard. They still have to learn some of the fundamentals of the game. We are still struggling with knowing our responsibilities and jobs on the court and that will come with time,” said Sizer head coach Derek Patno. “We are young with a lot of underclassmen on the roster. We must get these kids to keep playing hard and to buy in to what we are trying to teach. We’ll get there.”
Monty Tech finished the game with three players in double figures as every Bulldog found their way into the scorebook. Monty Tech was led offensively by Michael Cannon and Aiden Walter, both pouring in a game-high 12 points.
Teammate Joe Cruz added 10 points while John Lee, Lucas Blais and Ben Gosselin each contributed eight points for the Purple and Gold.
Sizer’s Isaiah Adamu paced the White Tigers with five points followed by Kaiden Schultz and Nate Mekonen, who each scored three points.
The Purple and Gold used a strong first quarter to jump out to the lead. Monty Tech scored the game’s first 15 points before the White Tigers got on the scoreboard three minutes in. The Bulldogs used full court pressure to stifle Sizer early on and enjoyed a 30-3 advantage at the end of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs expanded their lead.
Monty Tech was stellar on both ends of the floor, limiting Sizer to just two field goals — a pair of 3-pointers — in the frame. Offensively, the Bulldogs continued to run the floor and produce several buckets in transition. Monty Tech enjoyed a 41-6 upper hand midway through the second stanza.
Sizer’s Nate Mekonen showed off his long range in the final seconds of the second quarter when he knocked down a long distance 3-pointer just inside half court at the buzzer to send Sizer into the locker room on a high note despite trailing 50-9.
In the third quarter, the White Tiger’s fortunes didn’t improve as Monty Tech outscored the opposition 21-2 and led 71-11 entering the final eight minutes of action.
Both teams are off from action until after the new calendar year. The Bulldogs have a chance to climb back to the .500 mark when it visits Worcester Tech on Jan. 6. As for the White Tigers, they will once again try for their first victory on Jan. 3 when they host Bethany Christian Academy of Mendon.
“Now we have a week off before we play again against Worcester Tech and we jump into the league portion of our schedule,” said Foley. “We play some athletic teams, more athletic than us. We have go run our stuff, both offensively and defensively and share the basketball.”