DALTON, Mass. — Drury High School senior Hayden Bird scored his 1,000th career point in a 65-54 win over Wahconah Monday night.
Bird scored 23 points to lead all scorers in a game he will never forget.
Scott McGuire, in his second game starting, scored 18, while Chad Lawrence added nine.
For Wahconah (10-4), Brandon Roughley scored 17 and Luke Steinman added 14.
It was a night of celebration for Hayden Bird and the Drury Blue Devils (13-2), but it didn’t start that way. Wahconah found itself up, 8-0, early in the first quarter on five quick points from Brandon Roughley. It took the Blue Devils almost five minutes before they scored their first field goal.
McGuire answered Wahconah’s 8-0 run with five points in a row, leading Drury on a 7-0 run and closing the quarter down 8-7.
The second quarter started similar to the end of the first with a lot of pressure from Drury forcing Wahconah into bad passes. After being scoreless in the first, Bird finally scored a basket, which led to seven second-quarter points. Drury would widened the gap and took a 28-19 lead into the break thanks to three 3-pointers from Chad Lawrence off the bench.
“We talk about it all the time and as the game started getting loose that is where Chad comes in and knocks down some big shots for us. We weren’t putting the ball in the basket so it was nice” Drury coach Jack Racette said.
Out of the break, Drury looked to put Wahconah away with some more high pressure defense, and the defense also paid dividends in a milestone moment.
It all started with senior Connor Meehan soaring through the air for the steal and dish to classmate Bird for his 1,000th point. Drury looked comfortable throughout the third quarter, pushing its lead to 14 points.
Wahconah wouldn’t go away, similar to the last time these two teams met, and it started the fourth on a 12-2 run, including a five-point possession. It was a little too late for Wahconah as Drury was able shut the door and finish this one on top.
“We are senior led, with Bird and Connor, and they know what the have to take care of, and Reece [Racette] is a sophomore, but he has been around he knows what he needs to take care of. I thought we were pretty composed out there. Our guys responded we did a nice job,” Jack Racette said.
This was a big game for both of these teams as they are battling for position in the Western Mass tournament. Wahconah won the first meeting between these two making it an even split. Wahconah will look to bounce back against Taconic on Thursday while the Blue Devils will take on Pittsfield a week from Monday.
