VIDEO: Foxborough Girls’ Basketball Closes Out Hopkinton in Fourth Quarter to Win Warrior Classic

The Foxborough High School girls’ basketball team proved Tuesday it’s ready for the postseason after a 48-41 win over Hopkinton in the Warrior Winter Classic championship game.

“[We] showed [we] could maintain composure going into the fourth quarter when [we] were down to a great Hopkinton team and [we] really stepped it up so I am really proud of [the team],” said Foxborough head coach Lisa Downs.

Defense ruled the first quarter as both teams struggled to gain any offensive momentum in the opening eight minutes. Foxborough managed to gain a 10-7 lead on Hopkinton by quarter’s end but Hopkinton chipped away at deficit in the second and trailed the Warriors by just one (19-18) at halftime.

The third quarter belonged to the Hillers as Hopkinton took advantage of several Foxborough miscues to go up on the Warriors, 32-30 heading into the fourth quarter.

“About 75 percent of the game I was very happy with [the effort] and that 25 percent killed us,” Downs said. “We just hurt ourselves. We executed a perfect fast break and then turned the ball over three times in a row. We would take one step forward and a couple steps backward.”

But Foxborough remained calm in the final eight minutes, exhibiting the type of mental toughness and grit required to be successful in the state tournament.

“We were able to clean it up in the fourth quarter, which is what we have done in the last couple of games,” Downs said. “We just have to execute a lot better earlier.”

After trailing 39-37 with 4:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, Foxborough outscored Hopkinton, 9-4 the rest of the way to beat the Hillers, 48-41 and claim the 2013 Warrior Winter Classic Championship.

“It’s huge,” Downs said of winning the Classic. “Everybody wants to do their best work towards the end of the season and [we’ve] done that. ... “To have lost in our own tournament and then go into the state tournament would have been really detrimental to us and it would have sucked the wind out of our sails.”

Tuesday’s win avenged last season’s 70-44 loss to Hopkinton in the Warrior Classic championship … a game Downs reminded her team of prior to Tuesday’s contest.

“I reminded them about how much Hopkinton beat us by last year,” said Downs. “It’s not a nice feeling to lose by almost 30 points on your home court in your own tournament. I kept reminding them about that.”

While winning the Warrior Classic is a nice way to build momentum for the state tournament, Tuesday’s game gave the Warriors a better understanding of what type of competition they’ll face next week.

“We are going to be facing quality teams like that in the state tournament and [Tuesday] was a testament to what we can do,” Downs said. “Hopkinton is a great team and I knew it was going to be a very physical game, a high-tempo game, which bodes well for us because we like up-tempo.”

Downs said she will give her players Wednesday off to “sleep, rest and ice” before beginning their state tournament prep on Thursday.

“I gave them tomorrow off,” Down said. … “We’ve played very well at certain points of the season but we’ve also demonstrated that we have some weaknesses that we need to work on but the way [we] have continued building in the last week or two is huge for us.”

And despite a 15-5 record and a Warrior Classic championship win over Hopkinton through 20 games this season, Downs believes the best is yet to come.

“We had 19 games in the season before [Tuesday] and while I’ve seen great things from [this team] I still feel like we haven’t even tapped what we are capable of doing,” Downs said.

Downs hopes her Warriors will “tap” into that potential next week.

Snyder Named MVP of Warrior Winter Classic

Foxborough senior captain Ashley Snyder scored 14 points Tuesday and finished with 30 points for the tournament (she only played three quarters in Monday’s 85-37 win over Lunenburg). Foxborough senior captain was also named to the All-Tournament team.

Here’s a look at Foxborough’s individual scorers in the 2013 Warrior Winter Classic:

• Snyder (30 points)
• Jamie Ballou (25 points)
• Katherine Tamulionis (24 points)
• Andrea Marcotte (14 points)
• Perry (12 points)
• Danielle Roma (7 points)
• Brooke Buckner (7 points)
• Kayleigh Marino (5 points)
• Nicole Doherty (3 points)
• Caroline Rathgeb (2 points)
• Danielle Hayes (2 points)

Are you a big fan of the Foxborough Warriors? You'll also want to see:

• Warriors Scoreboard: Foxborough Girls' Basketball Wins Warrior Classic Championship

• Foxborough Girls’ Basketball Steamrolls Lunenburg; Readies for Hopkinton in Warrior Classic Title Game