Everything Adds Up for Greylock Boys

But the formula for his team's success on Saturday was pretty elementary.

 

"As a math teacher, you want to score 15 points a quarter, which gives you 60, and you want to give up 12 a quarter, gives you 48," Thistle said. "That's only three points difference (per quarter)."

 

And that average added up to Greylock's 59-48 win over Drury in the final game of Saturday's sixth annual Berkshire County Boys Basketball Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase at Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts.

 

Tyrell Thomas scored 16 points and grabbed 14 rebounds, and Hank Barrett had 15, including 11 in the second half, as Mount Greylock improved to 5-2 this season and 2-0 against its North County rival.

 

Mount Greylock took control with an 11-4 run to open a 14-9 lead at the end of the first quarter and was never really challenged from there. The Mounties got 12 points from center Tyler Picard, who was hampered by foul trouble and drew his fifth in the first minute of the fourth quarter with Gryelock ahead by 16.

 

After his departure, the Blue Devils (1-3) rallied, outscoring Greylock 21-16. Drury big man Nolan Bird took particular advantage of the space in the middle, scoring 11 of his game-high 18 in the fourth.

 

"I thought the kids perservered through situations," Thistle said. "We lost our center, who fouled out, and different guys stepped up. That's what, hopefully, having a good team is about.

 

"Tyler handled it well, and we ... came together as a team."

 

In addition to Bird's 18 and 10 rebounds, the Blue Devils got 13 points from Nicholas Trombley and nine rebounds and two assists from Kareen Beckett.

 

They did not get revenge for their first meeting with the Mounties back in December, a 59-52 Greylock win in Drury's first game of the season.

 

But Blue Devils coach Jack Racette was not discouraged. He sees the potential for better days ahead once his squad finds its rhythm.

 

"They're a good team," he said. "We're young, and it is what it is. It's Game 4, and we play them twice in our first four games. It's not what you want, but it's what we've got. I'd like to see them again after we've played 18 games.

 

"We're young and inexperienced. We've got to learn on the fly."

 

Drury gets its next chance to improve on Monday night when it hosts Pittsfield, which also will be looking to get back on the right track after falling to St. Joseph on Saturday at the Coaches vs. Cancer event.

 

Mount Greylock travels to Lee on Monday night. The Mounties head into the heart of their schedule stronger than they began it because point guard Hank Barrett, who missed the end of football season and the start of basketball's preseason, is back in the lineup.

 

Thistle said he thinks the senior captain is back to full strength.

 

"I think so," Thistle said. "He's physcially rehabbed, and I think mentally, too. When you sustain an injury like that, you second guess yourself, and you have to get our there and play. So now he's had a number of games under his belt. He's an emotional leader for us on the floor, and he's done a great job for us.

 

"We're happy that he's back, and we feel that he is back."