HOLYOKE, Mass. — The Hoosac Valley girls basketball team took down Lenox in the Western Massachusetts Class D Finals, 71-56, Saturday afternoon.
Hannah Shea led the way for Hoosac Valley with 20 points, while Gabby Billetz scored 15 and Taylor Garabedian added nine.
The Western Mass finals is familiar territory for Hoosac Valley, and that showed on Saturday. The Hurricanes came out the gates with an 11-0 run working the ball inside and out getting them easy baskets to start the game. The second chance points were flowing early and often helping them secure that early lead.
“We have some new kids and Gabby is the returner with good experience on the floor in finals, so coming out and getting that nervous energy out of us knowing we can score is huge. We moved the ball well and these girls know that they can play when they come out and focus.” Hoosac Valley coach Jon Frederick said.
Despite the great start, Lenox continued to stay focused and made a little run of their own to finish off the first quarter. Alivia Mauer scored the team high for Lenox with 17 points including five three pointers.
Lenox was able to close the gap on the bad start to the game only trailing by 3 at the end of the first quarter.
The second quarter Hoosac got back to what they did in the beginning of the first quarter with some good high low action getting the ball inside the post. They started the quarter on a 15-0 run this time and really got some good separation going into the break.
Hoosac Valley continued to assert their dominance in the third quarter outscoring Lenox 18-9 in the quarter alone. This gave Hoosac a 20-point lead going into the fourth quarter. .
It looked like Hoosac was going to cruise to its second Western Mass title in as many years, but Lenox had some other ideas. Mauer got things going with a couple of 3-pointers helping Lenox to get in their full court pressure. With Ashlyn Lesure fouled out of the game ,Hoosac struggled to keep its composure, turning over the ball with careless passes.
Lenox was able to cut the deficit all the way down to five but was unable to get over that hump. Hoosac Valley only scored one basket in the quarter, but their ability to knock down free throws helped them get over the finish line. Hoosac shot 11-15 from the line in the quarter and despite being outscored they were able to hold on.
The Hurricanes (17-4) are seeded fourth in the upcoming Division 5 State Tournament and await the winner of Monday’s play-in between Norfolk Aggie and Academy Pacific Rim.
Lenox (16-5) is Division 5’s No. 13 seed and awaits the winner of a play-in game between Hull and Brighton.
