Athletes of the Week: Bird & McIlquham

Hayden Bird
Drury High School

It is early, but so far Drury High School junior Hayden Bird is living up to the hype.

Before the season started, a reader poll from Masslive.com listed Bird as one of the top boys basketball players in Western Massachusetts.

Through seven games, he averaged 22 points and just more than nine rebounds.

More importantly for him, his Drury Blue Devils are 7-0.

In Drury's first game of 2016, Bird scored 23 with nine in the fourth quarter, including a game-tying 3-pointer late to help the Devils knock off Lee, 56-51.

That was the closest game of the season for Drury, and three nights later, the Devils followed it up with a seven-point win over Monument Mountain that saw Bird score 18.

Drury has two big tests next week: home against Pittsfield and on the road at rival Hoosac Valley.

McKenna McIlquham
Wahconah Regional High

The Wahconah girls basketball team has been on a roll of late, and so has junior Kenna McIlquham.

She led her team in scoring twice this week with 15 points against Lee and 11 against Mount Greylock, raising her season average to just more than seven points per game, third on the team behend Ashley Zink and Emmy Cote.

McIlquham's surge helped make Wahconah 2-0 to start 2016 and 5-0 in its last five games.

"She's got the skills," Wahconah coach Liz Kay said. "She was missing shots that were in and out. She was right there. It was just a couple of small adjustments that have really paid dividends for her.

"She gets to the basket really well, and that opens up a lot for her outside shot as well. Confidence is huge — probably it is with all high school athletes — it's all confidence."