MIAA basketball: Defensive dominance leads South Hadley girls past Southwick, 54-34, in D4 Round of 8

SOUTH HADLEY — For the third straight season, the South Hadley girls basketball team is Final Four bound.

The No. 3 Tigers punched their ticket to the MIAA Division 4 state semifinals after a decisive, 54-34 victory over No. 6 Southwick in the Round of 8 on Friday night.

Defense was the name of the game for the Tigers in the win, setting the tone by coming out in a full-court trap right out of the gate. The aggressive defensive gameplan wore the Rams down, creating turnovers and making getting the ball over the line within 10 seconds a difficult task all night long.

“We knew who the ball-handlers were, so if we pressured them, then they would have to give the ball up,” South Hadley junior Cara Dean said. “So I think it was more of a mindset game that, if we stopped them, we can get the win.”

Holding Southwick to its third-lowest scoring game of the season not only drained its energy and overall effort, it also helped to generate easy fast break opportunities on the other end for the Tigers.

Dean did well to facilitate the transition offense for her squad, finding cutters streaking to the hoop while tallying eight points of her own. South Hadley truly dictated the pace of Friday night’s contest throughout, getting more comfortable as time went on.

For the Tigers, their comfort comes from a familiarity with playing in big games in previous years, as well as earlier this season in the Western Mass. Tournament. Even throughout the regular season, South Hadley competed in the Valley League, taking on difficult opponents on a nightly basis.

“It got us ready to play at this kind of pace,” Tigers head coach Paul Dubuc said of his team’s regular season. “We’re playing so much faster than we were earlier in the year. We’re moving the ball better, we’re defending better, we’re rebounding better.”

When South Hadley wasn’t scoring off easy layups in transition, it found success crashing the offensive glass for second-chance opportunities. Kate Phillips made it nearly impossible to be boxed out throughout all 32 minutes, dominating the inside.

Even on the off chance Phillips was contained, her teammates flew in to scoop up loose balls with the attention elsewhere. Southwick struggled to finish possessions especially down the stretch, making any comeback attempt impossible.

“The best thing about our team is that everybody always [gives] 110% effort, so it doesn’t matter what shot somebody takes, there’s somebody else there to get it if you miss,” Phillips said. “And that just comes down to us being so close-knit. We’re there for each other the whole game, on every play.”

Phillips found success putting her offensive rebounds back up with some athletic spin moves and good touch around the rim. The junior finished the night tied for a team high with 16 points, including nine trips to the free throw line.

Olivia Athas was the other Tiger to tally 16 points, knocking down one 3-pointer while also facilitating the team’s offense throughout the night.

“[Athas] really came out wanting to win this game,” Dean said. “She found her shot, but she also found other people’s shots, so she really just helped the whole team, start to finish.”

With the win, South Hadley moves on to the semifinal round to face off against No. 2 Millis, who is fresh off a 50-35 win in the Round of 8. The two teams faced off in the state tournament last season, with the Tigers taking home a 45-42 victory.

“We’re in a two-game season right now,” Dubuc said. “So hopefully we get to play two… These girls, they expect it. We talked before the season, where we wanted to be, and we’re right there knocking on the door.”