NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – Alyssa Russell scored 16 points, and Jacinta Felix added 11 to lead the Drury girls basketball team to a 46-42 win over Belchertown on Tuesday night.

 

“First game of the year, I told the girls that it’s OK to be nervous and that you will make mistakes, you will miss shots,” Drury coach Ian Downey said. “The most important thing is to play hard and stay mentally tough. I thought we did that tonight.

 

“We struggled to score early but our full court pressure wore them down. We were able to only head into half-time down four which was big. Eventually we were able to get out in transition and cause some turnovers.”

 

Drury still trailed by five going to the fourth quarter, but Lauren Davis scored five points and Alyssa Russell added four in the fourth quarter as the Blue Devils outscored the Orioles, 16-7, down the stretch.

 

“Alyssa was huge for us in the second half,” Downey said. “She got two quick fouls in the first and had to sit most of the first half. Then in the second, both Jacinta and Brooke [Bishop] fouled out. Jacinta was relentless on defense the whole night so it was a big blow when she fouled out half way through the fourth.

 

“What made me the most proud was despite the struggles and foul trouble we stayed mentally strong. We kept our composure, took care of the ball and made our free throws when it counted.”

 

Ninth-grader Megan McGrath came off the bench in the fourth quarter when Bishop fouled out and immediately knocked down a free throw to make it a four-point deficit at the time.

 

“To come in cold and knock down a shot like that was huge,” Downey said.

 

Bishop finished with nine points, and Davis had seven for the Blue Devils (1-0), who go to Monument Mountain on Saturday.

 

Photos from this game here.