McGrath, Blue Devils Come Back to Beat Wahconah

DALTON, Mass. – Megan McGrath scored 17 points, and Ella Bond added 14 to lead the Drury girls basketball team to a 41-38, come-from-behind win over Wahconah.

 

McGrath scored 14 points in the third quarter, when Drury overcame a 17-10 half-time deficit and took a 27-25 lead into the fourth quarter.

 

“That was a gutsy win by our team,” Drury coach Ian Downey said. “It was one of those games you had to play possession by possession because you knew it was going to be a grind.”

 

Ashlyn Hayden scored six points, and Delaney Hayden added four to round out the scoring for the Blue Devils.

 

Danielle Hagmaier and Madison McCarthy added nine points apiece to lead Wahconah.

 

Downey credited McGrath and Ashlyn Hayden for helping to hold McCarthy in check.

 

“At halftime, the message was simple: Play aggressive but under control, and help each other,” Downey said. “We knew we would make shots if we created good ones, and that starts with everyone asking, ‘If I don’t have the ball, how am I helping the person who does?’ We focused on better spacing and passing angles, and that made a big difference.

 

“In the second half, I thought we were the aggressor while still staying under control. That led to open looks, and Megan and Ella both got hot. In games like that, you have to make shots, and they delivered for us down the stretch.”

 

Drury (6-3) hosts Hoosac Valley on Thursday.

 

Wahconah (5-3) plays Gardiner Area, Maine, on Saturday in the first round of the Hoophall Invitational in Springfield.