NORTH ADAMS — Up three points late in Friday's state quarterfinal, Drury's Megan McGrath was sent to the free-throw line and made 1 of 2 to make it a two-possession game. Hoosac Valley called timeout with 35.9 seconds to go.

Drury's been snake-bitten in the state tournament before, and it's been bitten by its archrival on a number of occasions, not least of which was in the 2013 Western Mass. Championship.

But these Blue Devils aren't looking at history, they were looking to make it. They got a stop, missed an open layup, got an offensive rebound, missed another layup, got a second offensive rebound thanks to Ella Bond, who passed it out to McGrath and she was fouled again.

The senior calmly sank her pair and when another Hoosac shot was off, an ecstatic Drury team dribbled out the final 20 seconds in front of a packed and raucous crowd as the Blue Devils won, 47-41, to punch their ticket to the MIAA Division V State Tournament semifinals for the first time ever in the new format and the first time since 2001 in any format.

"It is unreal. I'm so happy, this is the best season I could have dreamed of, even if this is where we end, I'm so happy," said a beaming Eva Moser after the game.

"It feels amazing," McGrath concurred with her fellow senior. "Coming to high school, it's something you always want and just to come out with this as a senior feels amazing and I'm so proud of my team for being able to do this."

"It feels great, I actually have no words," added Delaney Hayden.

Final@HVHSHurricanes 41@DrurySports 47

Drury has done it! The Blue Devils are state semifinalists for the first time!@EagleSportsZone pic.twitter.com/YEgco9mzui

— Jesse Kolodkin (@JesseKolodkin) March 7, 2026

The top-seeded Blue Devils had swept No. 9 Hoosac twice in the regular season, but the Hurricanes came out with force and led the entire first half. Izzy Tart, Isabella Klose and Ava Jagiello all hit 3-pointers while Tart in particular demonstrated impressive force inside.

She had eight points in the first half and seven rebounds, four offensive. The lone senior starter for Hoosac clearly wanted to keep her final season going and with Genevieve Lagess adding seven points, Hoosac held a 16-5 first-quarter lead and a 22-14 advantage with 1:30 to go in the first half.

But Drury's Lily Mirante hit a pair of free throws, Hayden stole the ball in the backcourt and scored and then Addisyn Shepard tipped a pass, Ella Bond made an incredible play at the baseline to keep the ball inbounds and Shepard grabbed it and was fouled in the bonus. She split the free throws, as did Norah Wood, and Drury was down just 22-20 at the break.

Both defenses dominated and no one scored for the first two minutes of the third quarter. Off a baseline inbounds play, McGrath dimed it to Ashlyn Hayden on a nice curl and Hayden laid it up and in to tie the game at 22.

On Drury's next possession, Elise Daly grabbed an offensive rebound, missed, grabbed it again and put it in for a 24-22 Drury lead, its first of the game.

But Lagess drove inside and scored through contact to tie the game. It was an actually an and-1, which she converted, but the point was waved off on a Hoosac lane violation.

That kept the game at 24-all and Drury got multiple offensive rebounds on its next possession, Bond eventually kicked it out to Delaney Hayden and the junior, who was 2 for 5 from deep in the first half, canned the trey for a 27-24 lead with 3:42 to go in the third.

McGrath fed Ashlyn Hayden inside right after and Hoosac called timeout down 29-24. Fight as the Hurricanes might, they never led again.

Delaney Hayden was 3 for 5 from range in the second half and led Drury with 18 points on five made 3-balls.

"I don't know, I hit one, I got confident, I just started shooting more and they were falling," said Hayden, who admitted there were plenty of nerves before the game. "Definitely, I felt sick before the game. Once I was on the court I knew we were good to go and we had this."

Drury's defense locked down Hoosac in the second half. The Blue Devils racked up a massive five blocked shots and seven steals.

"We don't always start off great but we wear teams down. We've got 10 good players, at least five can go in at a time and be nonstop," said Moser. "That's what our goal was. I knew coming we weren't always going to be the strongest but we just wore into them."

That 2013 Western Mass. Division II Championship saw No. 1 Drury upset by No. 7 Hoosac. A win that turned the fledgling Hurricanes into the gale force that swept across the state and won four state titles while appearing in nine.

Not to mention a streak of six straight state semifinal appearances dating back to the old system. Alas, that streak was ended on Friday night by Drury, the team that was nipped by Hoosac all those years ago.

End of 3@HVHSHurricanes 30@DrurySports 39

Delaney Hayden with some massive 3s and Drury goes into the fourth up.@EagleSportsZone pic.twitter.com/Q95lPrVxeQ

— Jesse Kolodkin (@JesseKolodkin) March 7, 2026

"This team has 'It,'" said Drury coach Ian Downey, with the cut down net draped around his neck. "They find a way to win. I've had good teams in the past that I thought could win games like this and they just haven't. Part of it has to do with the team, as a group, play through situations and be able to take the moment and play in the moment. The crowd was fantastic all night."

"To do it against Hoosac means something. It doesn't matter that they had not a good record this year, their seed, they're still Hoosac," the Drury coach continued. "They're still the back-to-back champs. They're still the one that has gone to all these state titles and won all these Western Mass. championships, as Granby found out the other day.

"For us to be able to go through them is kind of poetic. That when we finally got over the hump, it was against a team that was deserving to get over the hump against."

———

Hoosac Valley 16 6 8 11 — 41

Drury 5 15 19 8 — 47

HOOSAC VALLEY (41)

Lagess 3-5-11, Witek 3-0-9, Tart 4-0-9, Jagiello 2-0-5, Shea 2-0-4, Klose 1-0-3. Totals: 15-5-41.

DRURY (47)

D. Hayden 6-1-18, McGrath 3-3-9, Bond 2-1-7, A. Hayden 2-0-4, Shepard 1-1-3, Mirante 0-2-2, Daly 1-0-2, Moser 0-1-1, Wood 0-1-1. Totals: 15-10-47.

3-pointers — HV 6 (Witek 3, Tart, Jagiello, Klose); D 7 (D. Hayden 5, Bond 2).