Granby Edges Drury in Western Mass Semis

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Drury boys basketball team fell short against Granby, 51-46, in the Western Massachusetts Class C semi-finals on Thursday.

 

Drury (13-7) was looking to make it back-to-back trips to the regional finals after defeating Greenfield in the championship game last year, but it was derailed by the No. 3-seeded Granby. 

 

The Blue Devils started the game on a good note with a 7-0 run to give them the early lead. It was Jorge Bond and Connor Hinkel who carried the load on the offensive end. 

 

Bond got the run started with a steal and score followed by a 3-pointer to give them the 10-6 lead. He finished the game with 11 points. Hinkel did more of his work by the hoop, getting tough finishes at the rim on his way to a 10-point night.

 

Drury carried the lead throughout the first half, making it tough for Granby to get any easy looks on the offensive end. It was the 3 balls that kept Granby in the game in the first quarter and transition baskets in the second. Both teams struggled to score in the half court set and Drury was able to hold on to a slender lead at half, 22-18.

 

The second half is where Granby started to turn things around thanks to Gavier Fernandez, who knocked down back to back 3s to start the half. He finished with 22 on the night and gave Granby a much needed spark in the second half. After allowing 16 points in the first quarter to Drury, Granby went on to hold them to six in the second and eight in the third giving them the 33-30 lead going into the fourth quarter. 

Drury continued to be careless with the ball, turning it over without any real pressure from the Granby defense and the game for much of the quarter went back and forth with both teams trading baskets. It wasn’t till late in the fourth when Myles Beauchamp got going knocking down two big 3s down the stretch. He scored nine of his 11 in the quarter but none bigger than his triple to cut the deficit to one point, 46-47 with less than a minute to go.

 

On the ensuing play, Granby broke the Drury pressure and got an and one on the other end to make it a four-point game. Drury wouldn’t get another shot up and Granby would hold on to the win with a chance to win the Western Mass Class C title on Saturday. 

 

Drury will look to regroup as it gets ready for the Division 5 State Tournament next week.