NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – For the second time in two nights, a rough second half was the difference for the Drury boys basketball team.
And it was no mere coincidence.
“Out of gas,” Drury coach Jack Racette said of the fourth quarter in Thursday’s 61-47 loss to Hopkins Academy. “Out of gas. There’s no other way to explain it.”
The Golden Hawks used a 14-1 run in the fourth quarter to break open a three-point game, and the Blue Devils never got closer than 12 points the rest of the way.
Racette drew a straight line from Wednesday’s loss to rival Hoosac Valley to the fatigue that set in 24 hours later.
“It’s back to back games and games that are intense, and we’re not deep enough,” he said.
Drury got 21 points from Louis Guillotte and spread the rest of its offense among six different players with Sam Moorman accounting for seven points and a team-high nine rebounds.
Hopkins, which earned a 74-56 win when the teams met in early January, threatened to pull away a couple of times early in Thursday’s rematch.
But each time, Drury had the answer.
The Blue Devils erased most of a 15-8 deficit with a 6-1 run that spanned the first and second quarters and ended with a Dante Dillard 3-pointer.
In the second quarter, the visitors built a 26-19 edge. But Drury closed with a 6-1 run to trail but just two at half-time.
Then the Blue Devils took their first lead since 2-0 with a 9-2 start to the second half. Moorman scored at either end of the run, which included a steal, a lay-up and a 3-pointer from Guillotte.
After trailing, 34-19, Hopkins answered with an 8-2 run, and the teams traded buckets into the first minute of the fourth quarter, when Guillotte hit from the left wing to get Drury within three at 45-42.
But Hopkins’ Cam Wade scored on back-to-back possessions to start the decisive run. Ted Cyr (16 points) had an assist on Wade’s second basket and an and-one of his own in the run, which also saw Cody West (19 points) go 4-for-4 at the foul line.
Drury ended up scoring just seven points in the fourth quarter as it lost for the third time in four games.
“You can’t score seven points in a quarter and expect to be in the game,” Racette said. “They’re packing it in the paint. We’re not shooting the ball well. Teams will play zone the rest of the way, and if we don’t shoot the ball well, we won’t be playing much longer.”
Drury (9-9) has two games left in the regular season – either in next week’s Western Mass tournament or in crossover games. The Blue Devils also remain in contention for a berth in the Division 5 State Tournament later this month.
