CHESHIRE, Mass. — Hayden Bird put up 25 points as the Drury boys basketball team squeezed past Hoosac Valley, 65-64, in a wild one on Friday night.
Sixteen of Hayden’s twenty-five points came in the second half, including a couple big free throws late in the game.
Reece Racette had a big night as well scoring 22 of his own, while Connor Meehan added six for the Blue Devils (11-1).
For Hoosac Valley, Keagan McGrath scored 16 points and Izaha Stubbs had 14.
When these two teams meet you know exactly what to expect. A hostile atmosphere, a chippy game, and a lot of great basketball.
Friday’s matchup was no different and certainly lived up to the expectations of this rivalry. Drury once again came out the gates with high intensity pressure and forced Hoosac into some early turnovers. Drury was able to control the first quarter and the crowd by getting itself off to a 19-10 lead.
In the second quarter, Hoosac Valley found its rhythm and was able to counter with a nice 7-0 start of its own to start. Drury found itself closing the quarter the way it started the first, giving the Blue Devils a 33-25 edge going into the break.
The intensity grew even more to start the second.
Hoosac coach Mike Larabee was awarded a technical foul midway through the quarter trailing by five points, 42-37. That would spark an entertaining final quarter and a half as both teams picked up pressure, including an and-one bucket for Hoosac that the deficit to five and later ending the quarter down two.
It was a game that seemed like no matter what Drury threw at them, the Hurricanes had an answer. The fourth quarter proved to be the difference for the Blue Devils as they went on a 9-0 run to begin the quarter starting with a Hayden Bird 3-pointer. With the crowd behind Hoosac, it once again battled back, going on an 8-0 run following an intentional foul and technical foul late in the quarter.
Just when the momentum started to turn toward the home side, Drury came up with a big offensive rebound and put-back to push its lead back up to eight points. Some late free throws from the Blue Devils sealed the victory as they went on to close the game.
“You knew what it was going to be in hostile territory, we grinded it out,” Drury coach Jack Racette said. “It was a physical game and that’s what you’re going to get with these. I thought we handled the pressure and made some free throws when we needed to make them. It’s a good win on the road against a good team.”
After a tough loss to Monument Mountain, Drury got back on track this week with wins against Pittsfield High and Hoosac. The Blue Devils now will take on Taconic in a big Berkshire County North Division game Monday night at home. Hoosac (7-5) will look to shake off the loss and play host to Wahconah Monday night.
