GRANBY — The No. 8 Granby girls basketball team suffered a 50-40 loss to No. 9 Hoosac Valley in the Round of 16 of the MIAA Division 5 tournament on Monday night.
Offense was hard to come by for both teams throughout the contest, but especially in the opening quarter. Turnovers and missed shots plagued each side, with only eight points being scored by each team through the first eight minutes of play.
In the second quarter, the Rams continued to struggle, as the Hurricanes got out to a lead. Hoosac’s defense was aggressive as soon as Granby crossed the half-court line, turning its stops into buckets on the other end and widening the deficit to 10 points with under a minute till the half.
“We just missed too many shots and made too many turnovers,” Rams head coach Dave Padavano said. “That’s all you can say… [The Hurricanes] were good. They’re a well-coached team.”
Brenna Moreno did her best to keep Granby in the game, nailing a pair of 3-pointers right before the half ended. Heading into the break down 23-19, the Rams knew how important their response at the beginning of the third quarter would be.
Unfortunately for Granby, the third frame brought on even more offensive woes, shooting just 1-for-15 (6.7%) from the field. Hoosac did well to keep the Rams on the perimeter, playing physically around the hoop to prevent any easy shots.
On the other end, the Hurricanes got into a groove, finding success on the fastbreak and getting into the paint in the half-court. Heading into the fourth, Hoosac’s lead ballooned up to 38-27.
“[In] that first half, we just struggled; we were forcing things way too much,” Hurricanes head coach Jon Frederick said. “We settled them down going into the second quarter. The defense was working exactly as we wanted it to, which was great. Then we just started to get into a rhythm.”
Hoosac scored 30 of its total 50 points on the night in the second and third quarters, with the success helping to swing all of the momentum in its favor. Heading into the fourth with an 11-point lead, the Hurricanes milked the clock as much as they could, while maintaining their same defensive determination.
Genevieve Lagess played a huge role in the big pair of quarters for Hoosac, tallying all of her game-high 18 points between the second and third quarters. The sophomore used her strength to dominate around the rim, making eight shots in the win.
“[Lagess] is tough, when she goes to the glass,” Frederick said. “She’s a little hard to defend. [She’s] not the natural athlete that you’re seeing down low. So it was good. She’s been our rock down low all year, and that’s really what we expect of her.”
Despite facing the deficit late in Monday’s contest, Granby showed no quit till the final buzzer. As one of two seniors playing in their final game with the Rams, Kaitlyn Curran led her team by example, full-court pressing and pushing the ball up the court throughout the whole fourth quarter.
Moreno led Granby in scoring in the loss, with her aforementioned pair of threes contributing to a 15-point effort. Kalli White was close behind with 13 points of her own, making her money at the free-throw line with nine made freebies.
“They had a great year,” Padavano said. “I’m so proud of them… 19-4 and Western Mass. champs… They’re overachievers. They did a good job… Sometimes the shots go, sometimes they don’t.”
With the win, the Hurricanes move on to the Round of 8, set to take on No. 1 Drury. After losing to their upcoming opponent twice earlier in the regular season, the team is hoping the third time’s the charm.
It will be a tough matchup, but as the division’s former champions, Hoosac knows what it’ll take to walk away with a win.
“We progressively got better, which is good for us in the sense of, [Drury] beat us in the first game pretty handily; the second game was much closer than I think everyone expected,” Frederick said. “We’ll see where the third one goes. But that place should be packed, and it’ll be a great environment for the kids, whoever wins or loses.”
Division 4
No. 8 Hampshire 54, No. 25 Wareham 51 (OT) — Eleven days off didn’t end up costing the Raiders in their overtime win in the Round of 32 on Monday.
Hampshire last played Feb. 19, but due to its bye and Wareham’s preliminary round game being postponed multiple times, the Raiders had a lengthy layoff.
Monday’s win sets up a Round of 16 matchup against No. 9 Tyngsborough, which the Raiders will host on Wednesday at 6 p.m.
