AMHERST – Sophie Gatzounas stepped across the sideline at Curry Hicks Cage and pulled her jersey above her eyes.
Behind the black fabric, she cried.
There were 15.8 seconds left in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 girls basketball title game Saturday. South Hadley trailed by double digits. Tigers coach Paul Dubuc called off the fouling and pulled his starters off the floor.
“That’s when it hits you. As soon as you step off that court, you know there’s nothing you can do,” Gatzounas said. “You gave everything you had. It’s been an incredible run.”
Gatzounas finished with a team-high 12 points, but South Hadley lost 48-37. It was the top-seeded Hurricanes’ fifth straight title.
Dubuc recognized the game belonged to the opposition. He wanted his seniors to receive the recognition at the end of their careers.
“Brutal. She didn’t want to come off the court,” he said. “She would have stayed out there and took it though the last minute.”
South Hadley (22-1), the No. 2 seed, spent the whole fourth quarter trying to claw back. The Tigers held a 26-24 lead with 3 minutes, 15 seconds left in the third quarter after Marley Medina hit a jumper from the free throw line.
Hoosac Valley (21-2) scored 14 points in a row after that over the next 4:45.
“I think that came form confidence,” Hoosac senior Fallon Field said. “Once we hit a couple shots, we were confident and we started executing.”
Gatzounas broke the run with a jumper with 6:20 left in the game, making the score 38-26. Abby Edge followed with a layup assisted by Gatzounas. Then Gatzounas grabbed an offensive rebound and outback to make it 38-32 with 3:57 remaining.
“There was never a time where I didn’t think we had a chance in this one,” Gatzounas said. “We had to claw our way back.”
It was as close as they’d get. Hoosac steadied itself, and South Hadley struggled to communicate who and when to foul in the last few minute because of the noise.
“I thought sometimes we weren’t all together on the same page,” Dubuc said.
Both teams discombobulated the other offensively in the first half. The score was tied at 22 after the first half.
“They played good D. We didn’t finish,” Dubuc said. “I don’t think it’s from not being here or whatever, we were a little tentative.”
The loss marked the end of a career for South Hadley seniors Maeve Fitzgerald, Sophie Gatzounas, Alyssa Ippolito and Marley Medina. Gatzounas will continue her basketball career next season at Navy.
“We’re not going to replace her. She didn’t take any days off. She’s the best player in Western Mass., no doubt in my mind,” Dubuc said. “She makes even a lousy coach like me look good. She’s the real deal.”
The Tigers will bring back 12 players from the team that made it to the title game. Seven of them are sophomores
“We’re going to reload and get back after it,” Dubuc said. “We’re going to get one sooner or later.”
For now the Tigers will have to deal with the sting of coming so close to the program’s first sectional title. They went unbeaten in the regular season and won 22 games total.
That’s not what will stick with them, though.
“You gotta look at the bigger picture. One game doesn’t define us,” Gatzounas said. “We showed heart. This was my favorite year by far. There’s no other team I put more trust in.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.
Hoosac Valley 48, South Hadley 37
South Hadley (22-1)
A. Edge 2-2-6, M. Edge 4-0-9, Kelly 1-2-4, Gatzounas 5-1-12, Medina 2-0-4, Eale 1-0-2, A. Blaney 0-0-0, Sears 0-0-0. Totals 15-5-37
Hoosac Valley (21-2)
Mercier 4-0-10, Field 5-6-17, Mendel 3-2-9, Case 1-0-2, Frederick 5-0-10. Totals 18-8-48
|
South Hadley |
14 |
8 |
4 |
11 |
—37 |
|
Hoosac Valley |
12 |
10 |
14 |
12 |
—48 |
3-Pointers—South Hadley 2 (M. Edge, Gatzounas), Hoosac Valley 4 (Mercier 2, Field, Mendel)