Division 4 girls basketball: Lenox eliminates defending champion Hopkins Academy in quarterfinals

LENOX — The Hopkins Academy girls basketball team expected a battle when it pulled into Berkshire County Friday night. After all, the sixth-seeded Golden Hawks were facing No. 3 Lenox in a Western Massachusetts Division 4 quarterfinal game.

What happened was something nobody expected.

The host Millionaires broke open a tight game by outscoring Hopkins by 10 points in the second quarter and went on to eliminate the reigning sectional champions, 58-21.

Hopkins scored only two points in a 6-2 first quarter, and they came on a putback by Kasey Earle, who had a team-high 11. By the time the second quarter ended, the Millionaires had a 24-10 lead. The Golden Hawks had 15 turnovers in the first half, and attempted only 13 shots. Lenox’s defense and nerves played a role in that.

“I think it was a little bit of both,” Hopkins coach Mike Prattico said. “We didn’t execute well on offense for the whole game, actually. Defensively in the first quarter, we held them to only six points, so we gave ourselves a chance. Our struggles continued through the rest of the game.

“Obviously, Lenox was prepared and they played a good game.”

Kat Nichols had a game-high 13 points and was one of three double-figure scorers for the Millionaires (15-7), who outscored Hopkins 18-8 in the second quarter.

Jade Alward added 12 points for the Millionaires and Tabor Paul had 11. Paul had nine in that 18-8 second quarter that broke the game open.

With the win, the Millionaires have set up a rematch with Ware. The second-seeded Indians knocked off No. 10 Pioneer Valley 40-37 in overtime. The game will be played next week at Curry Hicks Cage on the UMass campus.

After the low-scoring first quarter, the teams started to find the hoop. Paul hit a 3-pointer for Lenox, which Earle answered, making it 11-7 with 5:57 left in the second. That was as close as the Golden Hawks got. The Millionaires responded with a 13-3 run that ended most all of the suspense.

Sophie Patella got it started when she caught a nifty pass from Alward and scored inside. Then, after Alward missed two free throws, Amelia Reis pulled down an offensive rebound and found Nichols on a backdoor pass for two.

And by the time Earle drained another trey, Lenox had used an 8-0 run to build a double-figure lead. It was 24-10 at halftime.

Lenox quashed any Golden Hawk dream of a comeback by opening the third quarter with a 11-1 burst. It was 35-10, Lenox, and the team could start planning its trip to Amherst.

“I think (the Lenox pressure) sped up our offense and made us make poor decisions with the ball,” Prattico said.

Lenox 58, Hopkins Academy 21

Hopkins (13-9)

Fyden 0-0-0, Earle 4-0-11, G. Dyjach 1-0-2, Hanscom 1-0-2, C. Kowal-Safrin 1-0-3, Palmisano 0-0-0, A. Dyjach 0-0-0, Jekanowski 1-1-3, Venditti 0-0-0, Fil 0-0-0, Beauchamp 0-0-0, Quinlan 0-0-0, Boisvert 0-0-0. Totals 8-1-21.

Lenox (15-7)

Alward 3-6-12, Reis 2-0-4, Patella 3-2-8, Wigington 0-0-0, Paul 3-3-11, Nichols 5-1-13, Najimy 3-0-6, Lipton 0-0-0, Nicotra 0-0-0, Giardina 2-0-4. Totals 21-12-58.

3-Pointers—Hopkins 4 (Earle 3, C. Kowal-Safrin). Lenox 4 (Nichols 2, Paul 2).