NORTH ADAMS — After halftime, the Mahar girls basketball team huddled together down by double-digits to Drury High School in the first round of the Div. 3 WMass tournament on Tuesday.
A frantic comeback followed led by Jazmyn Vautour and Micalyn Mailloux.
“We just said we have to play for all the seniors,” Mailloux said. “Have more urgency.”
The Senators couldn’t quite get there through as the Blue Devils made enough plays to hold off Mahar’s comeback attempt in a 64-59 win.
No. 9 Mahar faced a 34-17 halftime deficit to No. 8 Drury.
“I don’t know if I have ever been prouder of the team in the second half,” Mahar coach Larry Fisher said. “They ran the press and forced some turnovers.”
After running into some foul trouble in the first half and missing most of the second quarter Mailloux came out firing in the third quarter. Mailloux had 14 of her 22 points in the third.
“Working as a team really helped us a lot,” Mailloux said. “I sat the second quarter. It was tough.”
The comeback attempt took a hit when Tori Tenney picked up her fifth foul early on in the fourth quarter.
During the third quarter Mahar (12-9) got the lead down to 40-34 before Kayla McGrath hit a deep, rainbow 3-pointer for the Blue Devils (13-8).
Vautour played one of her better games of the season for the Senators with 17 points with four 3-pointers.
There was a scary moment for the Senators when Abby Bonk went down at mid-court while Mahar was pressing Drury in the third quarter.
Bonk went face first into the court and was assisted by trainers. Bonk went to the emergency room to be evaluated for a concussion after the game.
Bonk stayed with her team and watched from the bench with an ice pack on her head.
Delaney Parker and Courtney Page scored seven points each for Mahar.
Tenney, Sophia Apteker, Bonk, Vautour and Sarah Graeff played their last game for the Mahar basketball program.
In the fourth quarter the Senators got the lead down to 46-43 but the Blue Devils answered with an 8-0 run.
Tessa Zoito and Laura Thomas both had huge offensive rebounds and put backs during the stretch.
Alison Felix added a jumper and Brooke DeGennaro scored on an open court lay up in transition to make the score 54-43 with five minutes to play.
DiGennaro was a problem for the Senators with 16 points with Zoito adding another 16 points.
DiGennaro took advantage of a sloppy first quarter for the Senators with 10 of her 16 points in the opening frame. DiGennaro’s court-vision helped the Blue Devils get some open shots after breaking Mahar’s press.
McGrath (10) and Alison Felix (10) also reached double-figures.
Drury will travel to play No. 1 South Hadley (15-5) on Friday.
Drury 64, Mahar 59
Mahar (59)
Parker 3-0-7, Tenney 1-2-4, Prescott 1-0-2, Mailloux 8-3-22, Page 3-0-7, Vautour 6-1-17, Bonk, Davis, Apteker, Henne, Graeff. Totals 24-6–59.
Drury (64)
DiGennaro 7-1-16, Shook 3-0-6, Felix 6-6-10, McGrath 3-2-10, Thomas 1-0-2, Zoito 7-2-16, Dix 2-0-4. Totals: 27-11–64.
3-Point Goals: (M) Mailloux 3, Parker, Vautour 4, Page. (D) DeGennaro, McGrath 2 .
Score by quarters:
|
Mahar |
5 |
12 |
19 |
23 |
— |
59 |
|
Drury |
20 |
14 |
12 |
18 |
— |
64 |
