Keavany, Gogolin bolster Hopkinton
WORCESTER — Regan Keavany and Ivy Gogolin weren’t about to let their high school careers come to an end.
And Hopkinton’s senior forwards played like it yesterday in the Division 2 state semifinal against Northampton.
The dynamic duo powered the Hillers into Saturday’s state final by combining for all but 10 of the team’s points in a 48-40 victory at Worcester State.
Keavany finished with a gamehigh 24 points, while the UNHbound Gogolin posted 14 points, including the 1,000th of her career, and 13 rebounds.
“We’ve made it this far, so we’re not ready to lose now,” Keavany said.
After a sluggish offensive start, Hopkinton (21-4) created separation in the third quarter to expand its 17-14 halftime lead.
The Hillers went on an 8-0 run midway through the frame, getting four of those points from Marissa Prall to take a 25-16 edge.
But in the fourth quarter, there was no stopping Keavany.
After Northampton (19-4) cut the deficit to 35-29 on a basket from Sydney Lewandowski, Keavany scored six straight points to get the lead in double digits, 41-31, with 2:31 left.
Keavany also provided a much-needed offensive spark in the opening half after Hopkinton made just one field goal through the first seven minutes. Keavany got herself going by hitting backto-back 3-pointers to end the first quarter.
“She’s always so poised and under control,” Hopkinton coach Mike Greco said. “As the tournament has gone on, she has truly elevated her game every night.”
Foxboro 58, Pentucket 54 — Ashley Sampson scored all 22 of her points after halftime, including 14 in overtime, to help the Warriors (23-1) advance to the state final for the first time since 2003 by beating the Sachems (23-3) in Woburn.
Foxboro will face Hopkinton on Saturday for the Div. 2 crown.
The Warriors rallied back from a 20-point deficit early in the third quarter, thanks in a large part to Sampson, their senior leader.
“That was not us in the first half,” Sampson said. “We have never played like that. We just knew we had to step it up in the second half and really get back to our game.”
Sampson’s layup with 2.6 seconds left in regulation forced OT.
“She’s Ashley Sampson,” Foxboro coach Lisa Downs said. “She played like the MVP that she is.”
Sampson continued her dominance in overtime, scoring her team’s first 10 points to give Foxboro a 53-48 advantage. Lily Sykes chipped in with 16 points, nine of them in the fourth quarter.
Casey Hunt led Pentucket with 19 points.
Division 3
Archbishop Williams 69, Bishop Fenwick 51 — Asiah Dingle scored 20 of her 30 points in the first half as the Archies (20-3) routed the Crusaders (15-10) in the Div. 3 semifinals at Woburn High.
“We kind of let Asiah take over for a while and let her just do her thing, which she always does,” Archbishop Williams coach Matt Mahoney said. “Looking forward to the excitement of playing in that last game and see if we can come back with a victory.”
The teams have combined to win three straight state titles, Archbishop Williams in 2015 and 2017, Bishop Fenwick in 2016.
But this one was all Archies from the opening whistle.
The first quarter was all Dingle as the Kent State-bound point guard hit for 12 of the Archies’ 19 points in the first quarter. The defending champions built a 19-8 lead after one quarter and 37-25 at halftime.
Archies reserve Meg Marcel (14 points, 10 rebouds), who is coming off an ankle injury that limited her play at the end of the regular season, was sharp right out of the gates and combined with Bridgette O’Reilly on back-to-back 3-pointers to lead a nice rally to end the half.