MIAA basketball: South Hadley’s strong start leads to 59-49 victory over Millis in D4 semifinals

WORCESTER — The No. 3 South Hadley girls basketball team punched its ticket to its third straight MIAA Division 4 state championship with a 59-49 victory over No. 2 Millis on Wednesday night at Worcester State University.

The Final Four matchup was a rematch of last season, with the Tigers again walking away victorious. Wednesday night was less of a battle between the two teams, in large part to a first-quarter explosion from South Hadley.

Coming out in a three-up, two-back press, the Tigers set the tone by harassing the Mohawks every time up the court. The aggression paid off immediately, with South Hadley creating a number of turnovers and ending the first quarter up 14-4.

“That was our goal of the game, to start off strong, get a lead early, and have [Millis] be the ones having to keep up and try and pass us,” junior Cara Dean said. “It definitely helped us so much.”

Playing with the lead, the Tigers settled into what’s been giving them success all season long. Their focus was on the defensive end, holding onto the lead, while crashing the glass to prevent second chances.

Kate Phillips was dominant on the interior, using her strength to maintain great positioning on both ends of the floor. Along with a great day defending the paint and rebounding, the junior added a casual 18-point performance.

South Hadley was versatile on the offensive end throughout the night, with the team getting the ball inside whenever possible, but also taking outside shots when they were open. The Mohawks struggled to limit the relentless attack, with the Tigers never really letting the game out of their control.

“If you bury them first, then they’re forced to play catch-up the whole game,” Phillips said. “And then they have a tougher mental battle to overcome, [which] just helps us.”

When Phillips and her teammates weren’t attacking the rim, they were knocking down jumpers with ease from all over the court. Dean led the group with 19 points in the win, six of which came from a pair of 3-pointers.

Taylor Bullough caught fire from beyond the arc, hitting a trio of triples in what was a 14-point effort in the win. The junior has been an unsung hero down the stretch this season, playing her role and coming through in her team’s biggest game of the season to this point.

“Anytime [Bullough] was healthy, she’s played [like] that, so we trust her,” South Hadley head coach Paul Dubuc said. “She’s been in huge games. She’s been to the state finals. She played with these guys growing up her whole life. She’s hitting threes, she’s getting to the rock. It’s very exciting.”

For Millis, Caroline Connors proved to be a tough defensive matchup for the Tigers to handle, leading the game in scoring. Her 21 points helped keep the game interesting in the fourth quarter, but wasn’t enough to out-duel South Hadley’s group.

With the win, the Tigers move on to the Div. 4 championship game, a place they’ve found themselves for three years in a row. The last two haven’t gone to plan with back-to-back losses, but they’re hoping the third time’s the charm.

South Hadley takes on a familiar foe in Frontier Regional in the finals, a team they split the pair of regular-season matchups with. The rubber match is set to be played this weekend, at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, with a specific tipoff day and time to be determined.

“We’re not letting [Wednesday] define us,” Dubuc said. “We know who we are, we know how hard we work every day and we know what we want. We know what we want at the end of the season. We want to be in a position where we were last year to have a chance to win the state finals.”