Drury's Ready to Tackle Top-Seeded Mahar
There are two ways to look at tonight's Division 2 Western Mass. semifinal game between Drury and Mahar.The conventional way says the top-seeded Senators should be heavy favorites against the fourth-seeded Blue Devils. After all, Mahar has a sparking record of 18-3 this year, while Drury sports a rather unimpressive 11-8 mark. Add in the fact that Jack Racette's club struggled at times to beat a Taconic team that came into the tourney with a losing record, and outsiders might not give the Boys in Blue much of a chance of pulling off the upset at the Curry Hicks Cage tonight.
Wait just a minute, though. Coach Racette says it's not quite that easy to make assumptions about teams after just one playoff game.
"Only eight teams got into the Division 2 tournament this year, and we let Taconic in," Racette said about his team's loss in the final game of the regular season that allowed the Braves to tie them for second place in the North Division and qualify them for the playoffs. "Obviously, people had a lot of respect for them because they gave them a No. 5 seed. I've seen a bunch of teams from over the mountain play and if I had to pick between Palmer, Greenfield or Taconic, I'd rather play Palmer or Greenfield. It works out that way if you get a high seed sometimes. You only have to play one game to get to the Cage."
Getting to the Cage is something Racette and his teams have done quite well since he took over his alma mater in 2005. The Blue Devils have made it to at least the semifinals five times out the past seven years and several of these players were around two years ago when Drury lost to rival Hoosac Valley in the sectional championship game.
Look again, and you just might see Thursday night's game a little bit differently. These two teams have yet to play each other this year, and their one common opponent doesn't provide much evidence as to what Thursday's result will be. The Blue Devils beat Mohawk 53-27 in the fifth game of the year, while the Senators beat the Warriors twice this season by average of 46 points. The thing you need to know about Drury is that it has four wins out of its last five games and it's beaten quality tournament teams such as Mount Greylock, Pittsfield and Taconic this year.
Do a little investigating into Mahar, and you'll see that the Senators have a pair of losses against Frontier and Turners Falls this season, two teams that were seeded sixth and 11th in the Division 3 bracket this year.
My point is to expect a close, hard-fought game on Thursday night.
For the Blue Devils to pull off the upset, they must find a way to slow down the Senators' dynamic senior guard tandem of Jesse Lacroix and Phil DiPhillipo. Lacroix leads the team in scoring with 15.42 points a game, while DiPhillipo isn't far behind at 12.47 a contest. Junior forward Josef Whitman is also a scoring threat with his 9.76 points per game average this year.
"They're a pretty seasoned team," Racette said. "They've been in the Cage the last three years. They're definitely guard orientated. Lacroix and DiPhillipo are both good guards, and they dribble penetrate. They have some good mid-range shooters. They average about 62 points a game, but they don't make a lot of 3-point baskets. DiPhillipo is tough, where he pulls up right in the paint. He doesn't always take it to the basket. The Lacroix kid is pretty big. He's about 6-feet tall, and he's athletic. They're both pretty physical. They're not the typical small guards who aren't very physical."
If there is one thing hanging in Drury's corner, it's the Devils' defense. Racette's squad has only allowed one team to score in the 60s all year long and has held nine different teams to 40 points or less this season. Senior swingman Robert Jutras will be a big key to the game. The Drury forward has done a stellar job on the defensive end all year long, holding big-time scorers like Mount Greylock's Tyrell Thomas and Taconic's Tyler Murphy to just two points each in a pair of wins for the Blue Devils this year. Fellow seniors Joel Giorgi and Jake Tietgens will also be counted on to help Jutras on either Lacroix or DiPhillipo.
"Defensively, Robert, Joel and Jake are really going to have to tighten up the screws," Racette said. "I think our bigs could help us out on the offensive end. They can create matchup problems for them if they play straight man. That could be the key for us scoring."
Seniors Slayter Aubin and Brett Denning are the more traditional blue-collars workers down low for Drury, while junior Nolan Bird is more of an all-purpose threat who can drive to the basket or make shots from behind the 3-point line. Aubin and Denning were big factors in the quarterfinal win over the Braves, combining for 21 points and 14 rebounds on the night. Bird has been the team's leading scorer all season long at just under 13 points a game, and he's not afraid to hit the glass either, averaging just under eight rebounds per outing.
Something tells me that either Jutras or Giorgi will need to have a big impact shooting from the outside, though. Each player is more than capable after hitting 17 and 14 threes, respectively, this year.
Racette said his biggest concern is the fact that his team has played just three games in the last month. The Blue Devils waited 11 days between their final regular season game against Hoosac and their playoff game with Taconic. They then had to wait nearly a week for their semifinal game against Mahar.
"We haven't played a lot of games in the last few weeks," Racette said. "That worries me a little bit. I thought we had a pretty good game against Taconic on Friday, and we basically had another week off. But again, we're healthy and that's key. "
Game time for Thursday night's game against Mahar is scheduled for 6 p.m.