Devils blast Wahconah to win Gene Wein Tournament
NORTH ADAMS — The Drury girls' basketball team couldn't hit a shot on Tuesday night. One night later, the Blue Devils simply couldn't miss.
It's funny what a difference 24 hours can make for one team. In the opening round of the Gene Wein Holiday Tournament, John Franzoni's squad struggled mightily on offense, bricking shot after shot and missing layup after layup on its way to a 34-20 win over Lenox. Drury apparently got all of its bad shots out of the way on Tuesday night, however, as the Blue Devils bounced back in a big way with a dominating 61-31 victory over Wahconah in Wednesday night's championship contest.
The Drury offense, which was so stagnant against the Millionaires, almost matched Tuesday's night point total by halftime, taking a 33-17 lead over the Warriors into the break.
"We felt that if we were patient on offense, if we moved the ball and reversed the ball a couple of times, we could get good shots against their defense," Franzoni said. "I think that's what we did tonight. We were very patient and when we had our transition opportunities in the first half, we got out and sprinted. We felt like we could get good shots against their half-court defense, and we did a good job of executing."
Another key to the Blue Devils' victory was an astounding 41-18 advantage in rebounding. If Drury (5-1) did happen to miss a shot, it usually got another one thanks to an offensive rebound. In all, the hosts gathered in 16 offensive boards, compared to just six for Wahconah (4-1).
"We talked about it before the game, and we said that all five players needed to box out every possession," Blue Devils guard Danielle Racette said. "At the end of the first half, they didn't have one offensive rebound, and I think that encouraged us to keep rebounding and getting off of our feet and boxing hard."
Coming into the game, the Warriors were no doubt the toughest opponent Drury had yet to face this season. After four straight wins to start the season, Wahconah head coach June Sprague said this was definitely an uncharacteristic performance by her team.
"They just outworked us on the boards," she said. "I don't think we were outsized by any means, but they just wanted it a little more than we did tonight. This was not our best effort."
A quick start by senior forward Kelsey Ouimet helped Drury to a 14-11 lead after the first quarter. Ouimet scored seven of her team-high 13 points in the first frame and was a beast on the boards, grabbing nine of her game-high 15 rebounds in the first half. With Racette and point guard Cassie Lincoln setting her up with nice passes deep into the low post, Ouimet pressed the issue against the the Warriors' defense, causing talented forward Sarah Hamilton (13 points, five rebounds) to retreat to the bench early with foul trouble.
"We talked about going inside to Kelsey Ouimet tonight, and the kids executed the game plan to perfection," Franzoni said. "We wanted to go after [Hamilton] and make her work. She's a great player, but we wanted to make her play defense. By going after her, she got two fouls and of course when she's out, we really wanted to go after them inside. Kelsey played a great game and she took what was there. The kids on the perimeter just got her the ball where she could score."
Once Ouimet got hot, the rest of the Blue Devils just seemed to feed off of her energy. Junior Lyndsey DeGrenier came off the bench late in the first quarter and scored seven of her nine points at the end of the first half. Sophomore Ali Tatro also played a big role, filling in for the foul-plague Meagan McCarthy by scoring eight of her 12 points in the first half. Those two helped the hosts outscore Wahconah 19-6 in the second quarter, sending Drury into the locker room with a 16-point lead at halftime.
While those two did most of their damage in the first half, Blue Devils freshman Morgan Lamarre saved her best for the final 16 minutes of the game. The smooth-shooting small forward scored all nine of her points after the break, helping to break the game open in the fourth quarter when Drury outscored the visitors 16-4.
"We got great efforts off the bench from Ali and Lyndsey DeGrenier, and Morgan Lamarre did not play like a freshman tonight," Franzoni said. "She stepped in and played great minutes for us as well. It was a total team effort, and Ali did a great job of giving us a spark early. She did a great job in the first half. She gave us eight points, she was sprinting the court and she was all over the boards.
While the Blue Devils' offense was on fire on Wednesday night, the defense should not go unnoticed, particularly the job Racette did on Wahconah forward Aliah Curry. Known as one of the best offensive players in Berkshire County, Curry could only manage eight points on just 2 of 7 shooting against Racette's smothering defense.
"It's definitely an accomplishment to keep her to eight points when she's usually scoring 20 a game," Racette said. "She's a really good shooter, and I had to face guard her the whole game. We talked about it before the game. We had a scouting report on her, and I knew she could shoot the ball, so I just kept in her face."
Besides her solid defense, Racette played an overall great game, scoring 12 points to go along with seven rebounds, five assists, three steals and one block. Her efforts earned her the All-Tournament MVP Award, and some lofty praise from her head coach.
"Danielle Racette's a sophomore, but she's a tremendous two-way player and she did a great job of defending Aliah tonight," Franzoni said. "She's one of the top players in the county, but I think Danielle showed she belongs in that category, too, tonight. She drove to the basket, she played defense, and I think she's one of the more underrated defensive players around. If you can do a job like that against one of the better offensive players in Western Mass., that's a great effort.
Ouimet also made the All-Tournament team, while Hamilton, Mount Greylock's Kim Houston and Lenox's Hayden Zinchuk rounded out the roster. Drury plays again tonight in a game at Pioneer starting at 6 p.m.