hadley - Hopkins Academy dominated on both ends of the floor, took a 22-point lead at halftime and extended it to a 30-point victory Monday night in the first round of the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament.

A stingy defense and a well-balanced scoring attack gave No. 4 Hopkins the 64-34 win over No. 13 Dean Tech.

Hopkins will host No. 5 Ware (16-5) at 7 p.m. Thursday. The Indians defeated No. 12 New Leadership 58-14 in another first-round game Monday.

Hopkins was led by freshman guard Olivia Mathieu who scored 10 points and added four steals, and Stephanie Delue added with seven points and four assists.

"The great thing about our team is we don't have one superstar," said Hopkins coach Glenn Cooke. "Between Steph, Olivia, and Gabby (Pelissier), we have three players who can score in double figures. You never know who is going to explode on any given night."

It was a group effort on Monday for Hopkins, as 13 different players scored. Fourteen players saw action, including a handful from the junior varsity who gained some experience in the second half.

Hopkins is glad to be back in the playoffs after missing the postseason last year for only the second time in Cooke's 20-year career with the Golden Hawks.

"It feels nice to be back," said senior captain Delue. "For me, it was heartbreaking not making it last year. This year, we have a great group of girls, we pick each other up when we're down, and this game was a chance to give our younger kids a taste of the tournament."

Among the players getting their first playoff experience were Mathieu and seventh-grade twins Kate and Mackenzie Sullivan.

Mathieu said the younger players depend on senior leadership. "I don't think we could have done it without role models like Steph and Gabby," she said.

Kate Sullivan and sophomore Emma Konieczny each scored eight points for Hopkins, while senior forwards Pelissier and Keren Rytuba each had five rebounds to go along with four points.

Hopkins outrebounded Dean 27-18. Dean, which ended its season at 8-9, did not make a single field goal outside of the paint.

Dean was led by Carmen Acosta, who had a triple double with 27 points, 16 rebounds and 13 blocks.