HOLYOKE, Mass. — The Drury girls basketball team ran out of steam in the Western Massachusetts Class C Finals, falling to SICS, 62-35.
It was a tough matchup for the Lady Devils as they faced off against a familiar foe. This was the third time these teams have met this year and on all three occasions SICS got the better of Drury. The size of SICS proved to be the difference maker as Alicia Mitchell scored a game high 25 points, all from under the hoop and at the charity stripe. She forced Drury into early foul trouble getting 2 early fouls on both defenders Drury threw at her.
“Unfortunately, the early fouls set the pace of the game.” Drury head coach Ian Downey said. “Officials are never the reason you lose a game but when you’re trying to do something and the fouls go against you but the other side they aren’t and they can keep playing the way they were, the game plan goes out the window.”
Despite the troubles, Drury was able to hang around during the first half thanks to Jacinta Felix, who was able to keep the game close in the first quarter.
Felix finished with a team-high 14 points. Morgan Sarkis also gave a spark off the bench knocking down two threes on her way to nine points.
It was only an eight-point game going into the break, but the third quarter is what really changed the game for Drury. SICS started off the quarter with three straight turnovers, but Drury was unable to take advantage.
“I thought coming out of the break we had a few great defensive possessions, they turned it over three straight times, but on our three possessions we couldn’t score so we couldn’t cut into that lead,” Downey said. “This is what we wanted to do from the start of the game but the early foul trouble with Alyssa completely messed up our rotation.”
Drury struggled to score, and the turnovers started to pile up giving SICS a chance to blow this one wide open. Drury was outscored 15-4 in the quarter and from that point on it was a struggle to fight back in the game. The fourth quarter was more of a formality and both teams emptied the benches to finish this one off.
Drury (10-11) is home on Tuesday in the play-in round of the state Division 5 tournament against No. 42 Innovation Academy (11-9).
