GREENFIELD, Mass. – Jacinta Felix scored 12 points Thursday as the Drury girls basketball team closed the regular season with a 40-26 win over Greenfield.
The Blue Devils took control in the third quarter, outscoring the Green Wave, 15-6, to take a 32-17 lead into the fourth and bounced back from a loss in the Western Mass quarter-finals to finish 8-12 going into next week’s Division 5 State Tournament.
Felix scored six points in that pivotal period.
Brooke Bishop scored 11 points, and Delaney Hayden and Elise Daly added seven and six, respectively.
Drury learns Saturday who it will face in the first round of the tournament.
“I’m excited to see who we draw,” Drury coach Ian Downey said. “I think, based on our strength of schedule, that we have been tested to make a run in states. I’m looking forward to see what this team can do. I have confidence in them and I hope they go into the tournament knowing they are battle tested and can compete with anyone on D5.”
And, it turns out, the Blue Devils can show empathy with the best of them as well.
“I also want to give a shout out to my players for their sportsmanship,” Downey said. “[Greenfield’s] Amber Bergeron came into the game only five points shy of 1,000 career points but has been battling an injury the last three games trying to get it. With about 30 seconds left, I called timeout, and the players decided they wanted to automatically foul her to give her a shot to make a free throw for her one thousandth point.
“They didn’t need to do that but they understood how hard of an accomplishment it is and if she hadn’t gotten hurt, she already would have gotten it. So I’m super proud that they decided to do that for her.”