Drury Rallies Past Lenox

LENOX, Mass. -- On a night when points were hard to come by, the Drury girls came up big in a key four-minute stretch of the fourth quarter.

 

Brooke DiGennaro scored in transition with just more than five minutes left to spark a 9-4 run that gave the Blue Devils a 45-39 lead, and Drury held on for a 47-41 win over Lenox on Thursday night.

 

DiGennaro added four more of her game-high 15 during that stretch, which ended when Kayla McGrath knocked down one of the six 3-pointers that the two teams combined for on the night.

 

Drury coach Ian Downey said he told his players to trust themselves offensively in a physical contest that saw multiple players for both teams hit the floor seemingly as often as they hit their shots.

 

“They just got frustrated,” Downey said. “We had a 1,000 wide open shots. We just didn’t make them. And then they start getting frustrated and gun-shy, and they don’t want to shoot. It just affects the whole team.

 

“In the fourth quarter, I said, ‘Nothing matters. All that matters is what we do in this quarter. Nothing matters from the first three quarters.’ It was just keep running stuff, and eventually shots are going to fall. You saw [Hayley] Shook make one. You saw Kayla McGrath make one. … That was the message: Just relax and eventually the law of averages will work out for you and they’ll start falling.”

 

Drury (9-7) had the better of things most of the first half thanks largely to a big rebounding advantage through the first 16 minutes.

 

The Blue Devils jumped out to an 8-0 lead, weathered a Lenox run that spanned the first and second quarters to give the Millionaires an 11-9 advantage and went back on top, 20-12, when DiGennaro scored in transition following a rebound by Alison Felix (eight points, 17 rebounds).

 

But Lenox had another run in it and scored the last six of the first half to go to the locker room down by just a pair.

 

Nicole Gamberoni got things started when she hit both ends of a one-and-one. Alice Najimy then converted a pair of free throws. And after a Sophie Patella offensive rebound set up a bucket by Taylor Paul, Lenox trailed, 20-18.

 

That second-chance opportunity was a rarity for Lenox in the first half, when it was outrebounded, 31-15.

 

The Millionaires turned that around in the third quarter, much to Downey’s chagrin.

 

“When I was subbing five at a time [in the third quarter], it was literally because of offensive rebounds,” Downey said. “I told them, I was done [giving up] offensive rebounds. One group went in and gave up an offensive rebounds, so they went out and another group went in and gave up an offensive rebounds, and they were coming out.

 

“Offensive rebounds, sometimes are as simple as effort. And I thought Lenox was giving more effort into getting the ball.”

 

Patella finished with 15 rebounds to go with a team-high 10 points.

 

She had a pair of putbacks in a 6-0 run that allowed the Millionaires to go up, 31-27, midway through the third.

 

Drury got back within a point at the end of the quarter on a Shoot 3-pointer, and it remained a one-point game until Shook’s field goal sparked the go-ahead run for the Blue Devils.

 

After McGrath’s 3, it remained at least a two-possession game. Patella hit a short jumper in the lane with 1 minute, 3 seconds on the clock to make it 45-41. But Shook and DiGennaro each hit a free throw in the last 18 seconds to provide the final margin.

 

Lenox (4-12)  has a rematch Monday at home against Lee, which earned a five-point win in their first meeting.

 

Drury turns around Friday night and hosts Pioneer Valley before finishing with Lee, Mount Greylock and a crossover game against a Berkshire County North Division opponent.

 

“The teams we have left [in the South] are teams that we’ve beaten, but as you saw tonight, you can’t take that for granted,” Downey said, referring to the Blue Devils’ 53-30 win over the Millionaires in North Adams. “Lenox came in wanting to win tonight. That was pretty clear. They did not want to roll over by any means.

 

“And, to their credit, they didn’t. They played hard. They worked us hard. And they gave us everything they’ve got. Obviously, we have enough games left to get into the tournament, but we’re just worried about tomorrow with Pioneer Valley coming in. If we can get [our 10th win] tomorrow, that’s great. If not, we’re on to the next one.”