Taconic Boys Win Western Mass Crown

One year after suffering bitter disappointment in the Western Mass Division 2 finals at Curry Hicks Cage, the Taconic boys basketball team Saturday night closed the deal, holding off Northampton in the closing seconds and holding on for a 44-43 win and a berth in Tuesday's state semi-finals at Worcester State University.

iBerkshires.com reports the lone senior on this year's team and the lone non-senior on last year's made the last big play of the night, grabbing a defensive rebound with 4 seconds on the clock and earning a trip to the foul line with his team clinging to a one-point lead.

Afterward, senior Javier Osorio said last year's sectional final loss drove him to excel in his final go-around at Taconic.

Quintin Gittens scored a team-high 12 points and grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds, and Christian Womble hit two 3-pointers in the fourth quarter -- Taconic's only field goals in the period. Isaac Percy scored nine and had nine rebounds as sixth-seeded Taconic (16-7) won its sixth straight.

A year ago, Taconic's loss to Longmeadow in the Western Mass final left one of the few holes on the resume of a standout senior class that produced a Western Mass football title and a baseball state crown.
clock off.