NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- The Taconic boys basketball team can play some great defense across the board.
But just in case anything does slip through, it has a big insurance policy at the back end.
Mohammed Sanogo blocked five shots to go with 14 rebounds, and Taconic held Drury to 29 points through three quarters en route to a 68-42 win in Bucky Bullett Gymnasium on Wednesday night.
“[Drury’s Reece Racette] is such a good penetrator and such a good player, and [Scott] McGuire is so dangerous,” Taconic coach Bill Heaphy said. “Having [Sanogo] back there if they do get into the lane -- Reece is so dangerous driving the ball -- they know who’s waiting for them.
“Not that that would deter them, but it matters. And Mo is improving, still. It was good to see.”
Isaac Percy led three Taconic players in double figures with 15 points as Heaphy’s squad won its second straight and improved to 3-3 on the season.
Heaphy said that the outside shooting from Christian Womble (seven points) and Quincy Davis (10 points, including two first-quarter 3-pointers) helped create opportunities in paint.
Percy said Taconic knew it had to take advantage of the post presence that he, Sanogo and the front line can provide.
“The outside shots are going to hit when we’re going inside-out,” Percy said. “We knew we had the size advantage, so we went inside and just dominated there all game.”
It was a one-point game when Taconic took control with a 15-0 run to end the first quarter.
Percy got things started with one of his four first-quarter field goals, and Davis followed on the next trip with a triple off a pass from Robert McCown. Davis scored again on the next trip and had another three two possessions later as Taconic scored on five straight possessions.
McCown drove the right wing to close the run and make it 22-6 after one quarter.
Taconic added 20 more points in the second to go to the locker room ahead, 42-19.
Heaphy said it was the best half of basketball his team has played on the young season.
“Sixteen [minutes] consecutive, yes,” Heaphy said, agreeing with that assessment. “We’ve put eight together in a couple of games as good, but not 16. So it was good to see them do that. We’ve taken our foot off the pedal a few times in other games, so it was good.”
McGuire led Drury with 13 points. Racette added nine -- well below his season average on a night when he made just one field goal.
In the fourth quarter, Drury’s reserves were able to put a small dent in the deficit thanks in part to five points and six boards from freshman Timothy Brazeau, who took advantage of the only part of the game where the Blue Devils were able to match up size-wise in the post.
Drury suffered its first loss of the season in its home opener, a night when the Blue Devils honored deceased former coach and referee
Jim Shaker with a moment of silence.
Drury will look to bounce back on Friday when it hosts Paulo Freire Social Justice Charter of Holyoke.
