Hingham upsets Norwood
TAUNTON — No team had figured out a way to solve the vaunted defense of Norwood this season.
That was until Monday, when senior guards Grace Bennis and Ryley Blasetti cracked the code for No. 4 Hingham.
Top-seeded Norwood allowed a season-high in points as Bennis topped all scorers with 23 points and Blasetti added 15 points to spark the Harborwomen to a 62-57 victory in the Division 2 South semifinals at the Rabouin Field House.
“We knew if we fought hard we would be able to get baskets,” said Bennis as she hit five of Hingham’s nine 3-pointers. “We just stayed patient and confident in ourselves.”
While Blasetti exploded early, scoring all of her points in the first quarter, it was Bennis who came up with the big baskets in the second half to advance Hingham (20-3) to the South final versus Foxboro.
Bennis scored 11 points in the third quarter and Blasetti’s younger sister, Perry, sank two 3-pointers in the frame as well to take a 52-43 lead into the final stanza.
“We ride the hot hand and
Ryley did a fantastic job to start the game off,” said Hingham coach Eugene Buczynski said. “When we lost two of our starters to foul trouble, we had to dig a little deeper and that’s when other people step up.”
A putback and a pair of free throws from Caroline Connelly extended the Harborwomen’s lead to 60-47 with 4:08 left before Norwood (21-2), which had its 20-game winning streak snapped, roared back.
Alison Giambanco (14 points) sandwiched a bucket around a pair of 3-pointers from Ally Steeves, who scored 14 points off the bench and her second trey of the stanza brought the Mustangs within 60-57 with 1:23 left.
But Norwood couldn’t grab its first lead as Bennis drove for a basket with 18 seconds left to hold off the Mustangs and give Hingham the chance to avenge last year’s South final defeat.
“These girls can’t be denied. They won’t be denied,” Buczynski said. “That’s really something they’ve prided themselves on.”