WORCESTER — Three times Hopkins Academy has traveled to central Massachusetts for a state semifinal game. Three times the Golden Hawks’ season ended short of the state finals.
Maynard beat Hopkins 67-56 on Wednesday, the second year in a row the Tigers have beaten the Golden Hawks to reach the state title game.
Maynard (21-4) closed the game on a 10-2 run that was only broken by a Caleb Graves layup at the buzzer. The Tigers outscored Hopkins 17-10 in the fourth quarter. Other than Graves’ last-second shot, the Golden Hawks only made one field goal in the final frame.
“They just made plays. There’s no special play-calling,” Hopkins coach Angelo Thomas said. “There’s nothing we did. They just made plays.”
Cory Olivier led a balanced offense with 21 points. Three other Maynard players reached double figures.
Hopkins took a 46-45 lead when John Earle made a 3-pointer with 2 minutes, 3 seconds remaining in the third quarter. Hopkins wouldn’t score again until Sam’i Roe made two free throws with 6:10 to go in the game. Maynard went on a 7-0 run in that stretch.
“Hopkins is a terrific team. There’s so much balance,” Maynard coach Paul Howes said. “You try to focus so much on Sam’i and you get hurt by the other guys like Earle.”
Roe, who finished with 16 points, made four free throws in the fourth quarter. His second pair came with 3:37 left and pulled Hopkins within four points.
That’s as close as the Golden Hawks got. Hopkins didn’t score again until Nathan Kelley made a layup with 45 seconds left to bring the score to 66-54.
“That’s a Hadley thing. That resilience and character in these kids has been instilled since day one,” Thomas said. “That’s what we expect, and that’s what we count on.”
Hopkins struggled to score at the start of the game. Maynard opened with a 10-2 run. Olivier made two of his game-high five 3s in that stretch.
Then the Golden Hawks scored 20 of the next 25 points to lead 22-17 after a quarter.
“We were pushing the ball, keeping the tempo up and moving the ball around,” Roe said.
Junior Jon Morrison tied for the team lead with 16 points. He scored 14 of those in the first half, giving Hopkins its first lead of the game, 16-14, with a jumper with 1:48 left in the first quarter.
“Morrison was a monster in the first half,” Howes said.
Maynard reclaimed the lead 35-32 by halftime. Roe missed a 3 at the halftime buzzer that would have tied it.
It was the final game at Hopkins (21-3) for seniors Brock King, Irvin Compass and Roe. Roe came to Hopkins as a sophomore and led the Golden Hawks to three Western Mass. titles. He scored more than 1,400 points in his career.
“He may go down as one of the five or six best players to ever come through,” Thomas said. “He’s definitely made an impact on Hadley in a positive way. We’re going to miss him.”
Roe will take a postgraduate year and is deciding which prep school to attend.
“It’s been a good run,” Roe said. “I just gotta keep my head up.”
He’ll leave a void in the Hopkins backcourt.
“We’re really going to miss relying on him when we need that basket,” Morrison said.
Morrison and Earle, who finished with 12 points on four 3-pointers, will return next year with six of the eight Golden Hawks who appeared in the title game.
“I’m expecting to be right here again next year, probably facing Maynard again,” Thomas said. “I like the energy and effort, that’s one thing that we preach all year. If we have that, we’ll be fine.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com.
Maynard 67, Hopkins Academy 56
Maynard (21-4)
Olivier 8-0-21, Ford 1-0-2, Bastien 4-1-9, Lawton 3-2-10, Smith 5-1-11, Kiley 3-5-12, Gerger 1-0-2. Totals 25-9-67
Hopkins Academy (21-3)
Ciaglo 1-0-2, Earle 4-0-12, Kelley 1-0-2, Roe 4-7-16, Compass 2-0-6, Morrison 6-4-16, raves 1-0-2, Tudryn 0-0-0, Michalak 0-0-0. Totals 19-11-56
|
Maynard |
14 |
18 |
15 |
17 |
—67 |
|
Hopkins Academy |
22 |
10 |
14 |
10 |
—56 |
3-Pointers—Maynard 8 (Olivier 5, Lawton 2, Kiley), Hopkins Academy 7 (Earle 4, Roe, Compass 2)