CHESHIRE, Mass. — Fallon Field has a big game Thursday night, pushing Hoosac Valley into the Western Mass semi-finals at Curry Hicks Cage as they beat Granby, 59-51.
Field went 3-for-4 from the line, helping to secure the win Thursday night.
Alie Mendel also had a nice night, scoring 19 point of her own. Skylar Case and Madi Ryan chipped in with six each.
It was an entertaining game at Hoosac Valley (18-5), as both teams got off to a fast start. The Canes were able to control the tempo early with their full court pressure, turning Granby over numerous times. Hoosac got off to a 15-6 start, forcing Granby into an early timeout to readjust. The game went back and forth before Granby put on a run of its own, closing the gap before halftime with a 7-1 run to get it to 36-26.
“We got off to a great start and wanted to push it up and have more of a comfortable lead, but Granby hung in there,” Hoosac coach Ron Wojcik said.
For Granby (15-7), Julia Frappier led all scorers with 28 points, While Mallory Beauregard contributed with eight.
The second half started off a lot slower on the offensive end for both teams as they struggled to shoot the ball. Granby was able to chip away at the lead slightly, holding Hoosac to only five points in the quarter. As the fourth quarter began, Granby continued to close the gap and started to put some pressure of their own on Hoosac. Hoosac was able to weather the storm, and with 2:20 seconds left in the game Ryan came up with a big steal and layup to put her team up five.
The Canes continued to stretch the game out as free throw shooting became important to close it out. Hoosac finished the game hitting six of eight free throws in the fourth quarter to get the eight-point win.
“It was one of those nights where the shots aren’t falling, defense is going to win you championships and get you to the Cage,” Wojcik said. “I thought the girls did a really good job executing down the stretch from making free throws to making big plays with the game on the line.”
Hoosac will look to keep their winning ways going as the will play Hampshire in the semi-finals next week. Hoosac has won three consecutive Western Mass titles.
