Hinkell Steps Up as Drury Tops Hoosac Vally in State Tourney
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Connor Hinkell shone Wednesday night as the Drury basketball team defeated Hoosac Valley, 50-47, to book a place in the Elite 8 of the Division 5 State Tournament.
It doesn’t get much bigger as far as rivalries go between these two Berkshire County teams, but when you add in the fact that it was for a place in the state quarter-finals, you just knew it was going to be even more special.
When the State Tournament seeds came out you couldn’t help but look ahead to this possible matchup between Drury and Hoosac. Fast forward a couple weeks, and here we are in front of a packed house watching the No. 13 seeded Hurricanes face off against the No. 4 seed Drury on their home court. The atmosphere was great and the game play was even better.
“I have the utmost respect for Coach Robinson and that team," Drury coach Jack Racette said. "I didn’t want this draw, I would have preferred any other team, but it's great for the kids especially with this atmosphere. I mean no one is getting that until they reach the finals.”
Drury’s Hinkell was the first to get things going for both teams with a strong opening move for a layup. Hinkell wasn’t finished there as he went on to score nine of Drury’s first 13 points, including a big 3-pointer to level it up at 8 apiece. Hinkell finished the game with 18 points, a game high. Sam Moorman added 12 points and Freshman Jorge Bond finished with 11. 
It was clear to see from the opening tip that Hoosac Valley was going to key in on Bond, so it was up to the rest of the team to help get them over the edge. Drury finished the first quarter leading, 15-9, doing it the hard way with strong takes to the hoop and offensive rebounds for outbacks. It was overall a very physical game between these two sides as expected.
In the second quarter Hoosac Valley did its best to weather the storm and finally started to get things going on the offensive end. Trevor Moynihan had 14 points on the night, including six in the second quarter to keep the game within reach. After things started to get a little chippy, Hoosac Valley was issued a technical and Drury was able to capitalize on the momentum giving the Blue Devils their largest lead of the night at nine, 24-15.
With the half winding down, Benjamin Payton picked a perfect time for his first and only basket of the game to bring Hoosac within six, 24-18 with everything to play for in the second half.
“Connor is a junior and a baseball guy, but he loves basketball and when he’s here he gives 110% every game," Racette said.
Second half action saw another freshman step up for Drury, this time it was Sam Bullett, who hit two big 3-pointers midway through the third quarter to give them a 35-27 lead. He had all seven of his points in the quarter and really gave Drury a lift when things looked like Hoosac was going to flip the game around.
Hoosac Valley’s Will Hakes did his best to keep the Hurricanes in it, knocking down two big 3s on penetration and kick to bring Hoosac within two points. Hakes finished the game with a team-high 15 points. Both teams continued to trade baskets and we entered the fourth quarter with a 39-33 lead for Drury.
Once again it was Hakes who knocked down a corner 3 just as the fourth started, but Bond answered right back with a nice and one finish to regain that six point lead. Hoosac Valley then cranked things up on the defensive end, getting back-to-back steals for transition buckets to make it a 44-40 game with just less than three minutes to play. Just like all game long Drury had a response for everything Hoosac did and this time it was Moorman who finished off the midrange jumper.
With less than two minutes left, Hoosac was able to close the deficit to two points, 48-4,6 and on a couple of possessions had a chance to take the lead. But that Drury defense that came up big all game long was able to shut the door. After a couple huge free throws from Moorman Drury took a three-point lead and was able to once again keep Hoosac Valley from hitting a game tying 3-pointer.
“Defensively we’ve been good all year but today was one of our best defensive performances," Racette said. "James Varellas guarding Moynihan and running him off the three, we really stuck to our game plan.
“We had a good game plan and these guys really executed and we played great team defense.”