Granby girls basketball ends season with loss to Hoosac in Western Mass D3 quarterfinals

CHESHIRE — As the rest of Berkshire County can attest, the Hoosac Valley girls basketball team’s pressure defense is tough to solve no matter how many times you’ve seen it before. On Friday, the No. 1 Hurricanes faced No. 8 Granby for the second time this season and sixth time in the last four years. Again, the Rams could not solve the press, as the ’Canes pulled away in the second half for a 54-27 win in the quarterfinals of the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament.

Leading by 15 after two quarters, the Hurricanes (19-2) gradually wore down the Rams (11-11). They held the visitors to just two points in the fourth quarter and outscored Granby 25-13 in the second half.

“We know them, and I don’t think it was the press. We made our own unforced errors,” Granby coach Tom Burke said. “We were throwing the ball away, trying to get a home-run ball going. We’ve been moving it OK against them. It was finishing at the other end that hurt us.”

Hoosac forced 30 turnovers. When the Rams did navigate the pressure, the ’Canes trapped in the half court, leading to a contested layup or a rushed jump shot.

Granby started the second half with a 3-pointer from Kaeleigh Croteau. The Rams looked as if a comeback was possible, holding Hoosac scoreless for the first 2 minutes, 20 seconds of the third.

Alie Mendel’s 3-pointer ended the drought, however, and the floodgates opened back up on the Rams. Kate Sullivan split a pair of free throws before Kailynne Frederick responded with four straight points. Maddie Sexton countered with a layup, but Skylar Case answered with a 3-pointer from the top of the key.

Granby missed a basket on its next trip down, and the ’Canes grabbed multiple offensive rebounds, leading to a trip to the line for Kayla Garabedian. She sank the two free throws.

In addition to losing the battle on the boards, Burke said his team made too many mistakes to hang with the four-time defending sectional champs.

“Tom does a great job,” Hoosac Valley coach Ron Wojcik said. “They’ve played us so many times now. They certainly know our press, know the parts to attack it and we run a few different (presses). We just kept trying to change it up.”

Lexi Mercier led Hoosac with 15 points. Mendel had 14 points.

Kayla McCreary led Granby with eight points.

Granby seniors Abi Beauregard and Kate Sullivan played their final game. Senior Kate Sarnacki missed the season recovering from an ACL injury, but put on the uniform for every game and was a presence on the bench.

Hoosac Valley 54, Granby 27

Granby (11-11)

Croteau 2-1-6, Frappier 0-1-1, Sexton 2-0-4, Sullivan 3-1-8, Beauregard 1-0-2, Bergeron 1-1-3, Young 0-0-0. Totals 10-5-27.

Hoosac Valley (19-2)

Mercier 6-0-15, F. Field 1-3-5, Garabedian 0-2-2, Robinson 1-0-2, Halverson 0-0-0, Hall 0-0-0, Mendel 5-0-14, Case 3-0-8, S. Field 0-0-0, Frederick 4-0-8. Totals 20-5-54.

3-Pointers—Granby 2 (Croteau, Sullivan), Hoosac Valley 9 (Mercier 3, Mendel 4, Case 2)