Drury Dominates Glass, Tops Greylock

WILLIAMSTOWN -- Here is all you need to know about the Drury High School girls basketball team's win at Mount Greylock on Thursday night:

On one possession late in the first quarter, the Blue Devils had five offensive rebounds. Mount Greylock got its first offensive rebound of the game midway through the third quarter.

There was a lot the Blue Devils did right in a 57-34 win in the Mountie Dome. But the area where they really excelled was on the boards, where Drury racked up a 46-26 advantage, led by senior forward Ali Tatro's 13 caroms.

"We always try to put strong efforts in on box outs -- on offense and defense," Tatro said. "On defense, [opponents'] second shots decide basketball games. And on offense, the more chances you get, the better."

Drury (7-2) got 18 points and four assists from Danielle Racette and nine points and seven rebounds from Shannon Garvey, as it won its second straight game and finished the season series against Greylock with a second win by a margin in the 20s.

Mount Greylock (3-6) was led by Lucy Barrett with 13 points and Mackenzie Flynn with eight.

The Mounties were holding their own before Drury went on a 13-2 run that wrapped around the first and second quarters and left the visitors with an 18-7 lead.

See more game photos here.

It started when Racette fed Megan Benoit for a basket to give Drury the lead for good, 7-5, and it ended when Racette ripped down a defensive rebound to start a fast break that ended with a bucket by Olivia Carlson.

It was a 10-point margin at halftime, but Drury put the game out of reach with a 19-7 third quarter that saw six different players make a mark in the scorebook.

Balance and depth are two qualities that have Drury coach John Franzoni excited about his team's progression at the season's midway point.

"We're getting great leadership from our captains, and we're getting improved play from our juniors," Franzoni said. "Emily Moulton is playing well. Amber Iacuessa is giving us great minutes off the bench. Megan Benoit is shooting the ball well. Mackenzie Bona came in and played well again tonight.

"I think the key to being a good team is being deep, and we have 10 players who can play well. Hopefully, soon, we'll get [junior] Morgan Lamarre back, and we'll have 11 players who can play.

"I think a key to our team is we have good depth. We have good front line players in Ali and Shannon and Danielle, but have good role players who all can come in and play good basketball on both ends of the court."

Drury will take on Wahconah on Saturday afternoon at Taconic HIgh School as part of the girls Coaches vs. Cancer Showcase. Mount Greylock will play St. Joseph's at noon in the second game of the all-day event to raise money for the American Cancer Society.

Greylock coach Paul Barrett said the difference on Thursday night was his team's offensive droughts. The Mounties went about seven minutes with just two points in the first half and five minutes with just one point to start the second.

Greylock lost its third in a row in which it scored 34 points or fewer, and it did not help on Thursday that it was playing without its starting point guard, Arianna Walden, who is recovering from pneumonia.

Barrett said his team did show flashes of improvement in a game that was marginally closer than Drury's 61-32 December win.

"I thought Cheyanne [Alcombright] did a nice job off the bench," Barrett said. "Miranda Voller did a nice job hustling and getting rebounds, and Kelsey Orpin hit that shot at the end. There are definitely some bright spots. We know that we're young, so we can't really go with too much of a rotation.

"There were a lot of [Drury] shots going up and a lot of extra possessions, but we did better than we've done in a while. ... It felt like we did a lot better than the last time. And I really believe we did."

JV Game: Drury's junior varsity team defeated Greylock 41-21 in the first game on Thursday night. Molly Moulton led the way for the Blue Devils' offense, sinking 3 treys to start the third quarter on her way to an 11-point outing. Katie Toomey matched Moulton with 11 points, 13 rebounds and five steals, while Heather Morris was also a force on the boards with 14 rebounds. Drury coach Mark Moulton also credited Celene Koperek with a good effort on the defensive end. 

Haley Reinhardt was a one-woman show for the Mounties, scoring 16 of her team's 21 points in the game.