Chris Ledlum scored 36 points on Friday night but none were bigger than his old-fashioned three-point play with 11 seconds left that helped Northfield Mount Hermon School upset nationally-ranked Montverde (Fla.) Academy, 85-78, before a packed house at Forslund Gymnasium in Gill.

For the second straight season Montverde was in town for the HoopHall Classic on the weekend and the fifth-ranked team in the country according to MaxPreps made a Friday night stop at NMH. The game remained tight throughout, and NMH held a two-point (80-78) lead with 40 seconds left, with the ball. As the shot clock wound down, Ledlum a Harvard commit, drove to the hoop, scored and was fouled with 11 seconds left. He made the free throw to put the Hoggers (16-4) up, 83-78, and all but seal the victory.

“This is the win that kind of puts a stamp on all of the work they’ve been doing,” NMH coach John Carroll said. “They really had to battle, it was the biggest fights we had to fight. They have a new confidence in each other and a new sense of ownership in this team that they didn’t have last week.”

Carroll felt that the crowd played a major part in the win.

“This was one of the best, rowdiest crowds we’ve ever had,” he said. “It really energized and lifted the team. Just a tremendous crowd.”

NMH led 14-3 out of the gate but Montverde (12-3) battled back to tie the game at 24-24. The Hoggers went on another run late in the first half and took a 44-36 lead into the break. Montverde came back to take its biggest lead of the game at five points in the second half, but NMH again battled back late to tie the score at 72-72 before pulling away in the final minute.

Ledlum finished with 36 points and 10 rebounds, while Greg Dolan had 17 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. Darius Ervin added 14 points and five assists, and Jake Tavroff pulled down nine boards.

NMH travels to Springfield College for the Hoop Hall Sunday at 4 to face Woodstock Academy, weather-permitting.

Basketball

GMS girls fall

Amber Bergeron scored 13 points on Friday but the Greenfield Middle School girls basketball team suffered a 41-23 loss to Four Rivers Charter School in Greenfield.

Maggie Provencal scored 8 points for the Green Wave, while Anna Bucala and Carly Blanchard each played well defensively.

No information from Four Rivers was provided.