Recap for the game: Pittsfield vs Drury on Dec 16
Drury Comeback Denied By PHS
Chris Piscioneri
iBerkshires.com intern
01:56PM / Friday, December 17, 2010
NORTH ADAMS - The Drury Blue Devils battled back in a game in which they never held a lead, but a three-pointer by Pittsfield's Brendan Hamel in the final 15 seconds closed the door on any comeback chance as PHS defeated Drury 46-42.
Hamel and Drury's Tyler Benoit went on to share the game highs in points with 15 each, in the opening round of the Gene Wein Holiday Tournament on Thursday night at Bucky Bullett Gymnasium.
PHS jumped out to 12-0 lead and ended the first quarter up 14-5. Drury got their offense going in the second quarter with Benoit hitting three consecutive lay-ups off some nice passing by Nolan Bird. The Blue Devils continued to face tough pressure from the Generals' defense and went into the half down nine (16-25).
In the second half, Bird came out with tons of energy, and sparked the Drury offense again. After a timeout in the third quarter, Bird knocked down a huge three to cut the lead down to six. Bird continued his strong play with a block on the defensive end and hit a buzzer beater layup at the end of the quarter to close the Generals lead down to two (31-33). Bird finished with 12 points.
In the fourth quarter, the Blue Devils continued to step up their play and cut the lead down to one before a foul on a made basket led to a technical by Drury's Mike Tatro. PHS knocked down the foul shot and technical free throw to bring their lead back up to five. Benoit proceeded to knock down a big three-pointer to cut the lead back to two (37-39) with a little over five minutes to play. As the game battled on, Drury's Robert Jutras scored on a put back lay in to bring the Devils to their closest margin of the game, down one point (42-43) with 33 seconds left to play.
Pittsfield called a time out and on their next possession looked to be in trouble as Drury was playing tough defense, keeping pressure on the ball outside of the arc. As the shot clock ran down below five seconds and the game clock below 15, PHS guard Malik Grandson dished to a wide-open Hamel on the left wing. Hamel buried the shot to put the game out of reach for the Blue Devils.
"I feel like our team's defensive intensity is keeping us in the game, but our inability to put points on the board has put us under the gun in both games," Drury head coach Jack Racette said. "There is still much work to be done."
The Generals move on to the finals of the tournament and will face Mount Anthony (Vt.) tonight, Friday, at 7:30 p.m. at Drury High School. Drury also plays again tonight in the consolation game versus Wahconah at 6.
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