FOXBORO, Mass. - The Warriors clinched a return to the Div. 2 South semifinal at Massassoit Community College on Thursday night with a comfortable 61-32 victory over Notre Dame Academy (Hingham) and unlike last year, when Foxboro got to the same stage, there was little fanfare or celebration.
This was, as one observer noted, a businesslike approach to the state tournament. It was an approach befitting a team that won a league title and had just won its 20th game of the season. This was a team that expected to at this stage.
“I think last year we didn’t expect to be at each of those games that we found ourselves at,” said Foxboro coach Lisa Downs. “This year, we knew that we had a very quality team, so early in the season our goal was to get at least to Massassoit, but now we’re not even happy with that.”
After an opening round game against Milton in which the Warriors struggled to an 11-8 lead at halftime, scored only 41 points and got only seven points from Hockomock MVP Kat Tamulionis, Foxboro jumped out to a 17-10 lead after one quarter.
Junior Cassidy Harrison knocked down a jumper and buried a corner three (her only five points) in the first and Kiersten Warner and Grace Tamulionis (eight points) each buried threes as the Warriors got off to a perfect start.
Downs explained, “The critical part in tournament is just surviving to the next game. It doesn’t matter what the score was or how badly we played offensively -- we got the ‘W’.”
The Warriors clearly took confidence from that opening round win and the large fan section across from the bench.
“You could tell even from warm-ups that they seemed much more relaxed than they did two nights before,” said Downs. “Offensively, they did exactly what I asked them to do just look for the opportunity to take the shot and don’t pass up an opportunity.”
In the second quarter, Foxboro clamped down defensively. The Warriors allowed only four points in the second and finished the half on a 17-6 run. Freshman Ashley Sampson provided the spark off the bench with six points, including a couple of fastbreak layups.
“I have so much confidence in her,” Downs said, “and I think she knows that. Every time she steps on to the court I can’t wait to see what she can do. She’s a joy to coach and she’s fun to watch.”
Foxboro held a 31-14 lead at the break but in the third quarter, NDa had chipped away and trailed by only 11 at 33-22. Downs called a timeout after a putback by Rylee White and told her team to settle down. The conversation worked like a charm and Foxboro would go on a 11-2 run to end the third.
“We just composed ourselves and focused on switching when we needed to switch and not just following them around them screens jumping to where we thought they would most likely get the ball,” said Downs.
When asked if the game seemed closer than it really was at that point, Downs agreed but added, “Every tournament game, unless you’re up by 50, you think that team may creep back and they’re a quality team.”
The Tamulionis sisters were the keys to Foxboro extending the lead and stealing momentum back from the Cougars. Freshman Grace knocked down a pair of jumpers off assists from Sampson, who continued to get into the lane at will. Senior Kat scored nine of her game-high 20 in the quarter, including five in the span of five seconds on a layup on a steal by Siobhain Nolan and then stealing the inbound and burying a stepback three.
Leading by 20 heading into the fourth, Foxboro kept its foot on the gas with Sampson scoring seven of her 13 points, including a dagger three after great ball movement. Nolan had the assist on that basket and also led the team with six rebounds filling in for the injured Kristen Bortolotti.
“She’s been playing so much better the last couple of weeks and when Kristen Bortolotti went out I think she realized that she needed to take a bigger role,” said Downs.
Next week, Foxboro (20-2) will try to take a step further than last year when it takes on undefeated No. 2 seed Falmouth at Massassoit. The game is expected to be either Tuesday or Wednesday.
Josh Perry can be contacted at [email protected] and followed on Twitter at @Josh_Perry10.