HADLEY - In the first eight minutes of Thursday night's game, Hopkins Academy's young players looked like seasoned veterans.

The fourth-seeded Golden Hawks controlled the tempo of the game, held an eight-point lead after the first quarter and looked like the better team. That was until Ware's Justine King took over.

The senior forward erupted for 24 points and 11 rebounds, as the No. 5 Indians finally pulled away with a 57-40 victory in the Western Massachusetts Division 3 Tournament quarterfinal. Ware dominated the final three quarters behind King's offensive play-making, as her athletic ability and physical presence were too much for the Golden Hawks.

"There wasn't anyone we played all year that we could compare her to," said Hopkins senior captain Stephanie Delue.

Led by King, Ware picked up the defensive intensity after its slow start, and the Golden Hawks had no answer for the Indians' 2-3 zone. Ware held Hopkins to just two field goals from the start of the second quarter until the final two minutes of the game.

"Zone defense has been our Achilles' heel all year," said Hopkins coach Glenn Cooke. "We played a good first quarter, but we got away from what we were doing well. We fell behind and just couldn't get shots to drop."

Freshman Olivia Mathieu led the Hawks with 11 points, Delue added eight points, and seventh grader Kate Sullivan finished with six points. All six for Sullivan came on a pair of 3-pointers that were the only two field goals by Hopkins (16-6) during a 22-minute stretch in which they were 8-of-16 from the free-throw line and outscored by Ware 33-13.

The Indians (17-5) move on to play No. 1 seeded Lee in the semifinals at Curry Hicks Cage in Amherst. The date and time is to be announced.

Molly Pulchtopek scored 14 points for Ware as she and King paced the Indians. There was some doubt heading into the game if King would be able to play after she sat out the postseason opener against New Leadership on Monday with a sprained ankle.

"She probably could have played on Monday, but we thought we could get by without her," said Indians coach Bernie Dulak. "So we figured we'd keep her rested for tonight's game"

King was streaky early, but she consistently got to the free-throw line and was the main reason the Golden Hawks were in foul trouble. King was 8-for-12 from the line.

"We had to keep some of our girls on the bench because they had two fouls," said Cooke. "Steph, Olivia, Emma, and Gabby (Pelissier) all had two fouls before halftime."

Most notably absent in the early going because of foul trouble was Konieczny, one of the Golden Hawks best on-ball defenders. The Hopkins point guard sat for nearly the entire second quarter.

"We played hard to the end and that's all I can ask for," said Cooke.

"I'm proud of everyone," said Delue. "We exceeded everyone's expectations this year, and that was definitely an accomplishment for such a young team."

The loss marked the final game for Golden Hawks' seniors Delue, Pelissier, Lisa Berg, and Keren Rytuba.