GREENFIELD — Greenfield High School was on a mission Monday night.
Not only did the Green Wave seem to want to prove it deserved to be better than the fifth seed in the Western Massachusetts Division III Girls’ Basketball Tournament, it was out to earn the first tournament victory since the program’s recent revival.
Mission accomplished.
The Green Wave opened the game on a 14-0 run, led 22-3 after the first quarter and never looked back as it cruised past 12th-seeded Drury High School, 86-47, in a first-round game at Nichols Gymnasium.
Greenfield (20-1) will now have to take to the road Thursday night to face fourth-seeded Granby High School (15-5) at 7 p.m. in Granby. The winner of that game will advance to Curry Hicks Cage for the semifinals. The victory also put to rest memories of last season when the Wave had a first-round bye and was then upset at home in the quarterfinals by Mahar Regional School. Greenfield senior guard Kirsten Ward said the team entered the game focused.
“Especially after last year, none of us were messing around today,” she said. “Everyone did their part.”
The Wave was buoyed by its strong defensive effort, backboned by a press that forced a talented Drury (10-11) backcourt into several early turnovers. That led to the quick start and the 14-0 lead before the game was five minutes old. Drury got on the board with 3 minutes, 5 seconds left in the first quarter when senior Mackenzie McGuire scored on a putback, but the Wave responded with a 8-0 run, before Drury’s Tessa Zoito made a free throw in the final seconds of the quarter.
“I think the game plan was to play good defense,” Greenfield coach John Hickey said. ” We wanted the girls to get in passing lanes in the half court, make them back cut you and double all ball screens. And if you get beat, we’ve got Sam back there who can block shots.”
Smith came out on a mission with five points, four steals, two blocked shots and several assists in the opening quarter but she had to go to the bench in the final minute after picking up her second foul of the game. Things changed a bit defensively at that point and Drury opened the second quarter on a 9-5 run that cut the deficit to 15, 27-12.
Greenfield weathered the early second-quarter storm and guards Raegan Hickey and Katie Haselton led the offense without the third part of the three-headed offensive monster for the Wave. Haselton notched 10 of her 18 points in the second quarter to keep the Wave offense rolling, while Hickey, who scored a game-high 29 points, netted four points in the second quarter and was crucial handling the ball. Greenfield matched its first-quarter offensive output and took a 45-21 lead into the break.
The second half was a foregone conclusion, as the Wave lead never fell below 23 and both teams emptied their benches in the fourth quarter.
Hickey finished with 7 rebounds, 8 assists and 2 steals to go with her 29 points, while Smith wound up with 11 points, 13 rebounds, 7 assists, 5 steals, and 3 blocks. Another huge contributor to the win was Ward, who scored 9 points, and was all over the court defensively. Lizzy Howland and Jenna Silk each chipped in 6 points.
Alison Felix paced the Blue Devils’ offense with 12 points, while Brook DiGennaro netted 9 points. Emily Burdick added 7 points.