Despite foul trouble, Olivia Mathieu leads Hopkins basketball over Smith Academy
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
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HATFIELD - Olivia Mathieu couldn't wait for Monday's season opener.
Her Hopkins Academy girls basketball team was one of the final squads to play their first game.
That made it even harder when the junior guard was forced to the bench for much of the contest due to foul trouble.
"It was a long three weeks," said Mathieu, who made up for lost time in the fourth quarter, knocking down a pair of jumpers in the final two minutes as the Golden Hawks held off rival Smith Academy 46-37.
Mathieu dominated the contest early, scoring 12 early points as Hopkins (1-0, 1-0 Franklin South) jumped out to a 21-4 lead with 6 minutes remaining in the second quarter.
"We knew we had to come out hard because they had already played a few games," Mathieu said. "We knew what we were in for. I'm glad we came out and worked hard from the beginning."
But she picked up her third foul 10 seconds later and headed to the bench for the rest of the half and the first two minutes of the third quarter. She was joined on the bench for some of that time by freshman Kate Sullivan.
"It was hard. But my team picked Kate Sullivan and I up when we had three," Mathieu said. "We have to work on our fouls. (Coach Fred Ciaglo) wanted us to not go for so many steals because we didn't want to get beat for the layups or give a foul."
By the time they returned to the court, Smith (2-1, 1-1) cut the lead to 27-18. The deficit remained at nine when Mathieu picked up her next foul sending her back to the bench with 3:42 remaining in the third.
The Falcons took advantage, cutting the deficit to 38-33 highlighted by jumpers from Emiko Barker and Cassidy Snyder and capped by a 3-pointer from Danielle Duseau at the start of the fourth.
"I was proud of them in the second half. They came back pretty good," Smith coach Ted Wilcox said. "There are things we can improve on. Obviously, the passing game is the first thing. We did the same thing (in a comeback win at Pioneer last week), but we actually played better tonight than we did in that game."
Mathieu returned with 4:02 left and immediately scored on an offensive rebound, but Snyder answered with consecutive baskets on the press break to make the score 40-37 with 2:41 left.
"We improved once we relaxed more and were less flustered," Smith senior center Alyssa Klepacki said. "Then, we were able to get it in, push it up the court and play transition basketball."
That was as close as Smith got, however, as Mathieu converted a Mackenzie Sullivan assist and then scored on a free throw line jumper to push the lead back to seven with 1:38 remaining.
Kate Sullivan added a late free throw for the final score.
"It all started with our defense. We got a few stops and turned it into offense," Mathieu said. "Then, we took the momentum from there."
The Falcons struggled early against Hopkins' pressure defense and finished with 28 turnovers on the game. Senior Emma Konieczny (two points, six rebounds, seven steals) and Mathieu set the tone in the first quarter with seven steals combined. Mathieu turned that into nine points and two assists en route to a 17-4 lead.
"We can learn from our mistakes," Klepacki said. "We need to know that we need to play our game and not be so influenced by the way the other team plays. We'll be fine if we just play our game."
Smith settled down in the second half, limiting the turnovers and using its size on the glass better.
"We took a look at the scoreboard and realized we wanted it more," Klepacki said. "We improved on our passing and kept up the intensity. From now on, we have to play with that intensity from the start of every game."
Klepacki posted her third straight double-double of the season with 14 points and 13 rebounds, along with two blocks and two steals. Snyder also scored 14 points and had 11 rebounds and three steals in a solid performance.
"They did a good job on Alyssa, especially in the first half," Wilcox said. "In the second half, when our passing picked up, we were able to" get her going more.
For Hopkins, Mathieu scored her game-high 19 points in just under 17 minutes of play on the court. The junior usually plays nearly all 32 minutes. She also had eight steals.
Kate Sullivan finished with nine points, four rebounds, four steals and three assists, while twin sister Mackenzie had six points, five rebounds, four steals and three assists while handling herself well against the bigger Klepacki in the paint.
"We knew we had to crash the boards with all five (of our players) and box out," Ciaglo said. "We aren't big, we aren't that small, but we've got some long arms. I thought we did a good job. We kept Klepacki off the offensive boards, especially."
Ciaglo said the key for his team will be finding the balance between playing the kind of pressure defense it needs to while also keeping its standout players on the court.
"We've been working on it a lot. We want to play with intensity and with that great defense, but we can't have those bad reach-in and slapping fouls. We spent the last week talking about that. We want to get it out of the air, poke it off the dribble, not slap and reach when they are holding onto it.
"We came out with that intensity and we played a tough, full-court press, but we got in foul trouble. You can't press anymore once you get in foul trouble."
Jim Pignatiello can be reached at jpignatiello@gazettenet.com.
