Lenox Takes Rematch from Drury
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The Lenox girls basketball team Wednesday held off Drury for a 41-38 win on the road.
It was a tight, physical contest between the Millionaires (8-0) and Blue Devils (5-4). Both teams started out in full court pressure and that was really the story of the game. The early Lenox pressure gave Drury some fits and allowed Lenox to get some easy baskets at the rim when shots were tough to come by.
Lenox did well just to start the game with Drury’s pressure and was able to hit the short corner for a few easy baskets. Grace Julieano had a team high 12 points with nine coming in the first quarter thanks to the press break from Lenox. Kelsey Kirchner had 11 of her own and Chole Parsenios chipped in with six.
It wasn’t until late in the quarter when Drury started to settle into the game, finally being able to handle the Lenox pressure and using it to fuel their offense. Drury took the lead, 14-13 with just more than three minutes to go in the quarter and was able to stretch that lead to 18-15. It was a well balanced effort from Drury as far as scoring goes with Eva Moser leading the way with seven points. Norah Wood added six of her own and three more players finished with five.
“It was a great game by two good teams,” Drury coach Ian Downey said. “We knew after knocking them out [in the Division 5 State Tournament] last year that they would come hungry and we expected a good game.
“They are very tough defensively and I thought we learned a lot despite losing. One of us was going to have to come out on the losing end and I think both of us would agree that the game made both of our teams better.”
Second quarter action saw the Blue Devils continue their momentum after the end of the first quarter with some good ball movement but they couldn’t get the shots to fall. Lenox stopped with the pressure and forced Drury into the half court where the struggles continued. Lenox held Drury to just four points in the quarter and was able to take a two-point lead going into the half, 24-22.
“I wanted to press a little bit for games down the road, but it just opened the floor for Jacinta who is an amazing player and she kept finding her teammates so we had to get back and sit in which isn’t what I like but it worked tonight,” Lenox head coach Nicole Patella said.
That decision from Lenox helped them after allowing 18 points in the first quarter to settle in and finally make Drury work for every basket. Neither team took care of the ball very well and allowed for both teams to stay within striking distance of each other.
Drury once again finished the quarter with a run, this time from back to back three pointers from Wood and Delaney Hayden to tie the game up at 30 apiece going into the fourth. The offensive struggles continued for Drury and Lenox finally started to get some shots to fall.
Claire O’Brien knocked down a big 3-pointer with 3:36 left to go to give Lenox a six-point lead, 39-33. Drury added a couple more baskets one from beyond the arc to cut it to two points with less than a minute left, but after a clutch free throw from Parsenios to make it a three-point game, Drury was unable to tie it up at the buzzer keeping Lenox undefeated with their eighty win of the season.
‘It was a great game with two good teams, but this was our first real test of the season and the girls responded,” Patella said. “That’s a great team and I’m really happy to come out with the win.”
Lenox will head on the road to face Frontier, Monday in hopes to keep the undefeated season alive, while Drury will regroup for the quick turnaround when they face Pope Francis Friday, on the road.