Drury Sets Up State Tourney Rematch with Hoosac Valley
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Jorge Bond gave Drury a big lead from behind the 3-point line and put the game away at the foul line in Friday’s Division 5 State Tournament opener.
Bond scored 33 points to lead the fourth-seeded Blue Devils to a 54-41 win over Boston Prep Charter and set up a Sweet 16 game next week against No. 13 Hoosac Valley in Bucky Bullett Gymnasium.
The Blue Devils led by six after the first half, but Bond started the second half with two triples and knocked down a third in a 12-2 run to start the third quarter.
“I mean, the shots were open,” Bond said. “We moved the ball around. Everyone got shots. The first half, we were getting everyone inside. Sammy [Moorman] was scoring a bunch. So once they started D’ing up on Sammy, then the kickouts were wide open. And the 3s were there.”
Moorman had a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds. Bond and Connor Hinkell finished with eight boards apiece as Drury bounced back from a loss in last weekend’s Western Massachusetts Class C title game.
The Blue Devils, playing on a six-day layoff, came out strong, taking a 10-3 lead midway through the first quarter on a Bond 3 assisted by James Varellas.
But No. 36 Boston Prep Charter, which reached the Round of 32 with a play-in round win at Mount Everett, scored the next eight points, pulling within one when Jayden Goncalves scored in the post to start the second quarter.
Drury then went on an 8-2 run, making it 20-13 as Moorman scored five straight. Brayden Durant’s free throw with 1 minute, 58 seconds left in the half was the last point of the half and put the Blue Devils ahead, 21-15.
Moorman set up back-to-back 3s by Bond to start the second half, and Varellas hit a 3 to make it 30-15.
After Anthony Skinner (11 points) hit a pair of free throws for the Phoenix, Bond scored with an assist from Sam Bullett to give Drury a 16-point cushion.
Through three quarters, the home team held Boston Prep to just 23 points.
“That’s our motto: Defense wins championships,” Bond said. “We’ve got to take that motivation from losing Western Mass and take it all the way to states.”
Moorman scored in the post moments later to ignite a 10-0 Drury run that spanned the third and fourth quarters and ended with Bond driving the left wing for a bucket to put the Blue Devils ahead, 43-23.
That ended up being the high-water mark.
The Phoenix, which struggled to penetrate Drury’s zone for three quarters, got some six straight points in transition in a 10-0 spurt to get within 11 at 43-23 and later made its first 3-pointers of the game to make it 49-39 with 1:48 left in the game.
But Drury held Boston Prep Charter at bay with its free throw shooting. Bond went 9-for-12 at the stripe, and Hinkell converted his two free throws to give the Blue Devils 11 points at the line over the final 4:29.
A couple of weeks ago, Drury outscored Hoosac Valley, 21-6, at the free throw line in a 62-49 win over the rival Hurricanes.
The stakes will be even higher when the teams meet for the second time this winter.
“It’s gonna be a fun one,” Bond said. “We’ve just got to play our game. Defense is what it’s all about. And if we do that, we should be good.”