CHESHIRE, Mass. – A huge first quarter for the Hoosac Valley girls tipped the scales early for a dominant 58-30 home win against Ware.
Taylor Garabedian scored 16 points, including six in a 27-4 first quarter to lead the Hurricanes to their seventh win in a row.
“I think going forward, we should come out with the same energy that we did today, I think that got us in a really good position for the rest of the game," Garabedian said.
Abby Scialabba scored double digits as well with 11. Also, adding to the scoreboard was Emma Meczywor with 9 and Allison Lesure 8 points. Finally helping to contribute to Hoosac’s (15-9) victory was Hannah Shea and Maryn Cappiello with six each, Cappiello earning hers behind the 3-point line.
The top scorers, for Ware (7-12) was Cassandra Pendleton, finishing the night with eight and Emma Jacobs with seven.
“We got a lot of things to fix," Ware coach Dan Orszulak said. “And you know, when you have weaknesses, and you play a team like Hoosac they're gonna get exposed. We were down a player tonight and that didn't make a difference in the game. They would have beaten us full strength for sure.
"They're a super team. They play the game, the way it's supposed to be played, in terms of us and the offseason I need my kids to play more in the offseason, they did a really good job of improving during the season, but if we're going to make any gains if we're gonna get over some of the humps, and clear up some of the mistakes means they're gonna have to spend spend more time in the offseason.”
The Hurricanes came out rapid, quickly scoring five. They then went on an 18-2 run and finished the first quarter with 27. Cappiello, Scialabba and Hannah Shea each hit 3s to help cap off a near perfect first quarter. Although Ware tightened up its defense and was able to keep the Canes to 12 points or lower a period for the remaining of the game, it wasn’t enough to take down the 15-4 top-seeded Hurricanes and their commanding lead.
"This group knows what they expect," Hoosac Valley coach John Frederick said. "They set their goals high this year. We're still on pace. They want to get to Western Mass and here we are. And they want to win that. So we'll see if we get that, and then on to the states. So the goals are high, and that's ours and it's easy to coach a group like that.”
Hoosac moves on to the semifinal at home against Pioneer Valley on Wednesday.
