Drury Downs Monument Mountain
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The first quarter was the key to the Drury boys basketball team’s 89-74 win over Monument Mountain on Tuesday night.
And sophomore Shane Faucher was the key to that quarter.
Faucher scored 15 of his 21 points to help the Blue Devils jump out to a 29-17 lead they never relinquished in winning their third straight game and completing a season sweep of the Spartans.
Jorge Bond scored a game-high 35 points after shooting 18-of-24 at the free throw line – 11-of-12 at the stripe in the fourth quarter.
That shooting helped Drury hold off Monument Mountain, which cut the margin to single digits a few times but could never get over the hump.
The Blue Devils built their double-digit lead with a 10-0 spurt midway through the first quarter that included a couple of Bond free throws, a JJ Prenguber 3-pointer and two buckets by Faucher, including an and-one in transition.
“They pressured us, and we attacked it,” said Drury coach Jack Racette, who was honored pregame for earning his 300th win on the bench last week. “[Faucher] is really good in the open floor, so that’s a nice way to make them take the pressure off.
“That’s where he’s at his best. When it gets in the half court sets, you know, he’s a sophomore. He’s got to figure it out. But in the open floor, you could see what he can do in that first half.”
The rest of the game was back-and-forth until the Spartans had to start fouling in desperation in the final minutes.
Brayden Durant helped round out the Devils’ scoring with 15 points, including 13 in the second half. He also had three of the Blue Devils 11 3-pointers.
Monument Mountain connected 12 times from behind the arc. Bodie Cohen had four of them on the way to a 15-point night.
Dom Calautti also scored 15 to go with 17 rebounds. Finn Mason scored 12, and Dylan Netzer and Finn Wheeler had 11 and 10, respectively, in the loss.
Monument Mountain coach Randy Koldys agreed with Racette that the Blue Devils were able to take advantage of the Spartans’ pressure early.
“We tried to pressure them a little bit, and that backfired on us a little bit,” Koldys said. “We didn’t really have the energy to run the press the way we like tonight. That really kind of came through in buckets … in buckets either way you want to take that.
“They shot the 3 well tonight. They had 42 free throws, so we fouled too much tonight. So that puts you in a big hole.”
Drury shot just 67 percent at the line, but those 28 makes accounted for 22 more points than Monument Mountain (6-of-11) got at the stripe.
Still, there were moments when the Spartans appeared on the verge of pulling even. Each time they did, Drury had an answer.
Late in the first half, Monument Mountain’s Sam Barcenas (nine points) and Cohen each hit 3s in an 8-2 spurt to get within seven at 44-37. But Drury’s Sam Bullett got the last bucket of the half to send his team to the locker room with a nine-point lead.
Monument Mountain scored the first five points of the second half thanks to a 3 by Cohen and a transition basket from Jackson Nelson. But the Blue Devils answered with a 10-0 run that included eight points from Durant to make it 56-42.
In the fourth quarter, Mason scored in transition to get Monument within eight at 65-57. But Faucher answered with a basket assisted by Bond, Connor Hinkell hit from the foul line and Bond dropped in a 3-pointer to get the lead right back up to 14 points.
A couple of minutes later, Netzer got a steal on one end of the court and a basket at the other to get the Spartans within nine at 73-64. On Dury’s next possession, Bond got to the line and made both free throws. Then Hinknell hit a mid-range jumper to give his team a 13-point lead.
Drury scored nine of its last 12 points at the foul line – seven from Bond, who went 7-for-8 down the stretch, not missing until there were just 26 seconds left and Drury had a 15-point lead.
Monument Mountain (8-6, 2-6 Berkshire County League) will look to get back in the win column with a non-league game at home against Easthampton on Thursday.
Drury (11-2, 6-2) has another league showdown on Friday when it goes to Wahconah, alone in first place heading into Wednesday’s game against Pittsfield.
“This was a good win for us, but we’re only as good as we practice and we play,” Racette said. “We’ve got a huge game Friday back down at Wahconah. It will be a tough spot to win.
“But it’s getting ready for the tournament. We’ve got to get healthy. We’ve got to stay together, all the little things. But the guys played well tonight, I thought.”