Warriors Win, Advance to Play Hopkinton

Going into the postseason, the 11-9 Foxboro Warriors were considered underdogs in their matchup against the 15-5 Silver Lake Lakers. Watching them play on Wednesday night, it would be difficult to see how they were considered the underdogs. “We play good defense pretty much the whole game and we had pretty balanced scoring so I was really please to come on the road and play a tough team and come out on top with a good margin” said Warriors basketball coach Sarahh Behn. Behind good shooting and solid defensive play, the Warriors would upset the Lakers 57-39 in the opening round of the MIAA Girls Basketball Division 2 tournament.

Foxboro would come out strong right from the tip off. Starting the game with a 6-0 run, the Warriors did a good job of penetrating the Lakers’ defense and driving to the basket. On defense, the Warriors benefitted from errors on the Lakers part . Getting called for traveling twice early on in the first quarter, the Lakers let their nerves get the best of them before starting an offensive run and getting the score to 10-6. That would be as close as the Lakers would get as Foxboro  would jump out to a 16-6 lead after the first quarter.

In the second quarter, the Warriors continued to be the more aggressive team. Despite their tough defense, they struggled for a good portion of the second quarter offensively.  While the Warriors would forced multiple turnovers including 2 steals within seconds of each other, the Lakers held the Warriors to only 2 points in the first 7 minutes of the second quarter and were only down 18-10 with 3:20 to go in the half. The Lakers would get their chances but they struggled to convert and cut into the lead “We had 3 or 4 opportunities to get it closer and we didn’t. We had some nice inside opportunities. “ said Lakers coach Richard Steele. With only a few minutes remaining in the half, Foxboro would go on a 10-3 run to take a 13 point lead into the half.

Coming right out of the intermission, the Warriors would push the tempo behind Kayleen Whall who scored 21 points tonight “She’s(Whall) great. She’s an emotional and physical leader. She’s strong, she hits a 3 to start the second half and she plows in there and gets fouls. She’s an excellent player.” said Warriors coach Sarahh Behn.

The one highlight for the Lakers would come from Junior Forward Courtney Yost. Scoring 18 points, she would also get her 1000th  career point in the fourth quarter.“ She was patient. She worked hard and didn’t force any shots…she’ll be a force to reckon with next year.” Said Steele on Yost’s game play that night.

The Warrior’s would spend the second half, marinating their lead, and playing tough defense on their way to getting an 18 point win and the opportunity to play in the quarterfinals.

While the Warriors are the 11th seed, they may be peaking at the right moment according to Warriors coach Sarah Behn. “We had our ups and downs during the year and we’re playing out best basketball lately so this just really help us” said Behn

Next up for the Foxboro Warriors will be the 4th seeded Hopkinton Hillers. Hopkinton beat Fontbonne 51-49 to advance to the quarterfinals. They will play in Hopkinton at 7pm Friday night to decide who will face Bishop Feehan in the semi-finals.