WORCESTER — One possession one way or the other could have swung Hopkins Academy’s boys basketball state semifinal overtime loss to Maynard on Monday.
The Golden Hawks gave the Tigers five extra possessions they turned directly into points on putbacks.
They helped build Maynard’s double-digit lead in the first half and kept the game within one possession for the last 13 minutes, 50 seconds.
“You work so hard to get them to take a shot, and they miss then you give them an extra possession,” Hopkins coach Angelo Thomas said. “They played a little bit bigger today, and we went with a smaller team. But we’ve got to come up with those rebounds. Those are the couple possessions that matter.”
Maynard (22-2) and Hopkins (23-1) were tied at 45 with 2:24 remaining in the fourth quarter.
Eric Kiley missed the front end of a one-and-one for Maynard, but the Tigers grabbed the miss.
Hopkins forced a tie-up, and the possession arrow went to Maynard for another possession.
Kiley found himself in position for offensive rebounds often.
He finished the game with scrapes and bruises on his arms from fighting inside.
“Just trying to out-body my man,” Kiley said. “I’m trying to get to every rebound.”
FALSE START — Hopkins’ shot clock malfunctioned 46 seconds into the game, forcing a stoppage with the Golden Eagles trailing 2-0.
It took five minutes to get the game underway again.
Both teams used it as an extended timeout, meeting at their benches.
FOULS BITE GOLDEN HAWKS LATE — Hopkins played seven players in the game, so losing two in overtime drastically changed the end of the game.
Brett Morrison picked up his fifth foul 33 seconds into the overtime period, and was replaced by John Earle, who was disqualified with 1:23 remaining.
Earle’s loss forced sophomore Justin Butterfield into duty, and he missed two free throws with 2.2 seconds left in overtime with the Golden Hawks trailing by one.
“We never gave up,” Thomas said. “We kept playing, we kept fighting.”
TIGHT QUARTERS — While Monday’s loss was the first on the season, it was also the closest game Hopkins played.
Only one of the Golden Hawks’ 23 wins came by single digits, a 45-39 win over Mahar on Feb. 22.
They had won their three Western Massachusetts playoff games by an average of 31 points per game, aided by an 82-19 victory over Sizer in the quarterfinals.
“The senior leadership between me, Greg (Pipczynski) and Brett we pick guys up. We knew this could be our last game,” Hopkins senior Spencer Butterfield said of managing the tight game pressure. “I think a lot of guys responded to us.”
POISED TO RETURN — Hopkins Academy will graduate three seniors, but should bring back the other four players who saw action in the state semifinal.
Junior Sam’i Roe led the team in scoring and should be surrounded by shooters Jon Morrison and Earle.
“We’ve got one of the best players in the state coming back, you’ve got Jon Morrison and John Jay (Earle), two lethal guys,” Thomas said. “Think about a year ago where Jon Morrison and John Jay were. They were in headlights last year against Sutton. This year, Jon Morrison played like a man out there. So much difference a year can make being bigger and stronger.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.