Ryan, Frederick Help Hoosac Hand South Hadley First Loss

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. -- The biggest shot of the game looked a little different from the sideline than it did from the standpoint of the shooter.

 

Madi Ryan drained a 3-pointer with 30 seconds left to give the Hoosac Valley girls basketball team a a one-point lead, and the Hurricanes held on for a 64-62 win over South Hadley Friday night in the HoopHall Classic at Springfield College.

 

Hoosac coach Ron Wojcik knew the senior sniper had the shot in her, and he knew she was going to take it.

 

"I saw her lining up that 3 five seconds before it even happened," Wojcik said.

 

Ryan? She said the shot was just something that happened in the flow of the game.

 

"It wasn't planned," she said. "We said we were going to go for the open layup. My girl helped off me, and I just played with basketball. I didn't think about it. I didn't think about the score.

 

"I just shot with confidence, thinking it was going in."

 

On that point, coach and player agreed.

 

"I knew in her eyes she wanted to take it," Wojcik said. "And I had a feeling with her. She wasn't afraid to take that shot in the Cage four years ago as a freshman."

 

Moments later, Ryan provided the final margin of victory with a free throw for her 22nd point of the game.

 

Kailynne Frederick led all scorers with 23 as Hoosac survived a back-and-forth game that was truly worthy of the "Classic" moniker the 15th annual event carries.

 

Frederick scored 15 in the second half and 11 in the fourth quarter as Hoosac began to execute its pick-and-roll game to get her looks under the basket.

 

Ryan credited that execution with opening the way for outside shots like her 3.

 

"I would say hitting Kailynne Frederick down low [was the difference]," Ryan said. "When we were hitting her, she was scoring a lot, and it opened up our shooters a lot and gave us more time to shoot, which really helped with our shooters."

 

Hoosac (10-1) extended an eight-game winning streak, avenged its only loss of the season and handed South Hadley (8-1) its first loss.

 

But it wasn't easy.

 

The Tigers led by as many as nine in the third quarter when Sophie Gatzounas (23 points) hit a free throw to make it 45-36.

 

And it was an eight-point game early in the fourth when Abby Edge scored to give the Tigers a 52-44 lead.

 

But Hoosac went on a 12-0 run to take a four-point lead.

 

Frederick got it started with an assist from Ryan, and the pair hooked up again with about three minutes left to make it 56-52.

 

During that stretch, Hoosac forced four South Hadley turnovers as Wojcik turned up the heat defensively.

 

"We hadn't been pressing most of the game because they were burning us early," he said. "In the fourth, we went to our matchup press, and I thought that picked up the intensity a little bit. We got a couple of steals out of it, but on the offensive end, the execution really picked up."

 

After a one-point loss to South Hadley back in December and the two-point win Friday in Springfield, the obvious question was this: Can there be a rubber match in this epic battle.

 

Both Ryan and Wojcik said they hope there is -- in the Western Mass tournament at the Curry Hicks Cage.

 

"I just said to Paul [Dubuc] from South Hadley, 'It's two games, a one-point game and a two-point game, and hopefully there will be a third because both teams deserve it," Wojcik said.

 

"That would be awesome," Ryan said. "Right now we're even, but it would be great to see them in another matchup. We love close games."