AMHERST, Mass. -- The Hopkins Academy boys basketball team Saturday stormed out of the locker room with a 9-0 run to open the second half and never looked back in a 78-69 win over Drury in the Pioneer Valley Tip-Off.
Justin Ciaglo started the run with a 3-pointer en route to a game-high 23 points for the reigning Western Massachusetts Division 4 champions.
Drury (0-1), which led by as many as nine in the first quarter, fought back to within four points twice in the fourth but could not get over the hump.
“We just didn’t execute for the 32 minutes,” Drury coach Jack Racette said. “In the third quarter, we went to a half-court trap, and it wasn’t very effective. And we kind of got beat, and we kind of got the game going slower than we wanted it.
“We didn’t do what we wanted to do, and they shot the ball well. And they beat us to a lot of loose balls.”
Sophomore Scott McGuire led the Blue Devils with 22 points and nine rebounds. Reece Racette scored 18 with 10 boards.
Hunter Sarkiss connected on five 3-pointers for 15 points, and Conor Clark had a big first quarter with nine points, but was hampered by foul trouble and finished with just those nine points.
Foul trouble was an issue all game for the Blue Devils, who also saw Max Daugherty and Obilio Rodriguez foul out. All three are forwards.
“We fouled three guys out, and McGuire had four,” Racette said. “We’ve got to put our hands in our pockets and just use our speed a little bit better.”
Drury raced out to an early lead thanks in part to the play of Clark, who scored with an assist from McGuire for the Devils’ first points and then stole the ball and scored on a lay-up to make it 4-2.
He later hit a 3-pointer with an assist from Chad Lawrence, put back an offensive rebound and set up Sarkis for a triple in the quarter.
A McGuire bucket from the foul line gave Drury a 23-14 lead late in the quarter, but Hopkins (1-0) answered with a 3 at the other end to make it a six-point game.
Hopkins rallied to tie it up at half-time, using five 3-pointers in the second quarter -- two by Ciaglo.
“Really coming out with a game plan against teams will be key as we go through the year and start knowing what teams have and can get out on shooters,” Racette said. “There’s no reason for a guy to get that many 3s off against us. We’ve got to run people off the line.”
Ciaglo’s triple started the second half and gave Hopkins a lead it never lost. Three minutes later, Brayden Tudryn hit a 3 to cap a 9-0 run that made it 48-39.
It was again nine points with 5 minutes, 25 seconds in the fourth after a pair of Ciaglo free throws, but Drury answered with a field goal and a 3-pointer from Daugherty to make it 67-63 with about four minutes to play.
With 1:02 left, McGuire sank a 3 to get the Blue Devils back within four at 73-69.
But Hopkins shot 5-for-6 from the line in the final minute to put the game away.
Drury goes back to the valley on Wednesday to face Pioneer.
