CHICOPEE — The top team in all of Division 5 was too much for the Greenfield boys basketball team with a sectional championship on the line on Tuesday night. Top-seeded Drury dispatched Greenfield, 72-50, in the Western Mass. Class C championship game at Chicopee Comp High School.
The opening quarter looked promising at the outset. Second-seeded Greenfield had an early lead after Grayson Thomas started hot from the outside. Thomas scored 13 points of his 36 points in the opening frame. Midway through the quarter, Greenfield held a 16-9 lead at Herbert Curry Gymnasium.
The shots then started to miss, and the Blue Devils started to chip away at the lead. The game was out of reach by the end of the third quarter.
“It was a good first quarter because we were hitting shots,” Greenfield coach Angelo Thomas said. “Some of those shots that we were hitting, that’s hard to sustain.”
The Green Wave will turn their attention to the state tournament. Greenfield is ranked 15th in the MIAA statewide power rankings. The MIAA will release brackets this Saturday at 1 p.m. for basketball.
“Discipline, number one,” Thomas said. “Defense. Those two things and rebounding. That’s been our Achilles all year. We have to do it by committee. If one person breaks down, it really hurts us.”
The Blue Devils then went on an 8-0 run to take the lead going into the second quarter. By halftime, the Blue Devils had a 38-24 lead.
“Everything just crumbled,” Grayson Thomas said. “We need to rebound and play as a team and play defense.”
Senior Malik Moore dealt with foul trouble for most of the game. Moore finished with four points. Outside of Thomas, nobody was in double-figures for the Green Wave. Conner Bergeron added four points. Nobody on Greenfield hit a 3-pointer outside of Thomas during the game
“Drury is a really good team,” Moore said. “We didn’t come to play really. No defense. We need to stay together. We can’t fall apart. We have to hit easy shots. We had open threes. Once that happens too many times, we are down 15.”
Drury led by 22 going into the fourth quarter. The Blue Devils are the top ranked team in the most recent MIAA power rankings in Division 5.
“They are a good team,” Thomas said. “They are the number one team in the state for a reason. They had guys that came in and hit a couple threes. We needed that.”
The Greenfield defense did well slowing down Drury’s leading scorer in Jorge Bond, who finished with six points. Drury countered with four players in double-figures outside of its leading scorer. Bond and Thomas represent the top scorers in Western Mass.
Shane Foucher led the way with 18 points for the Blue Devils. Connor Hinkell (13 points), Brayden Durant (11 points) and Sam Bullett (16 points) all chipped in on the offensive end for the Blue Devils. It’s Drury’s first Western Mass. title since 2023. The Blue Devils lost in the Class C final last season to Granby.
