All the Hopkinton girls basketball team had to do was step on the gas.
ASHLAND — All the Hopkinton girls basketball team had to do was step on the gas.
When the Hillers played Ashland for the first time back on Jan. 16, they got out to a quick eight-point lead, only for the Clockers to come back and trail by just one heading to the second. And it ended up being a game that Ashland went on to win, though Hopkinton was also playing without UNH-bound senior forward Ivy Gogolin.
The Tri-Valley League rivals squared off again Friday evening, and with a healthy Gogolin in the lineup the Hillers once again got out to a quick lead. And this time, Hopkinton didn't allow the Clockers to get back in it.
The Hillers built a 17-point lead after one quarter, got a monster game from Gogolin, and played lockdown defense in a dominant 66-35 TVL victory.
“We said that on the bench that it was like deja vu and we knew they were going to come out fired up after that,” Hopkinton coach Mike Greco said after his team improved to 11-4 overall and a league-best 9-1 in the TVL. “Last time, they regrouped and made it a game, so this time, at that point, it was going to go one of two ways — we were going to extend the lead or they were going to chip away. Thankfully, tonight we were able to extend the lead. We always pride ourselves on the way we defend and we just wanted to make things difficult for them.”
Ashland coach Dave Lyth, meanwhile, knew his team was going to be in a for a tough game and was quick to credit the opposition.
“They came out fired up and we weren't able to match their intensity,” he said after his team fell to 12-4, 8-4 in the league. “We beat them last time, but they came out hungry tonight. That's why they're the class of the league. They continue to put wins on the board. They were better than us. We tried to stop their best players and their best players beat us tonight.”
A focused Hillers group found themselves up 8-0 three minutes in, and this time they remained relentless in all facets of the game.
Tough, hard-nosed, in-your-face man-to-man defense was the key for Hopkinton, as the Hillers made life difficult for the Clockers, especially their top scorers Kayla Madden and Ryann Lima. Hopkinton forced six first-quarter turnovers and did a great job of contesting Ashland's shots, both inside and outside.
The Clockers also didn't score until there was 3:09 left in the opening frame.
The defense allowed the Hillers to play quick, get out in transition, and play with more confidence offensively. An 8-0 lead turned into a 19-2 lead following a Lilly Morningstar layup in transition, and Hopkinton led 21-4 by the time the first quarter ended.
“It's been a theme throughout the season,” Gogolin said. “If we come out strong and go up big in the beginning, it's a big thing for us to keep that going and not let the other team back in it, which we've been doing a bit. So it was nice this game to not allow them back in it and keep our momentum going.”
A 16-9 second quarter saw the Hillers take a 37-13 lead into the half, with the 37 points being more than Hopkinton's total from the first meeting (36). The Clockers played much better in the third quarter — outscoring the Hillers 16-14 — but they still trailed 51-29 heading to the fourth before Hopkinton cruised in the final frame.
Gogolin, who missed the first meeting with concussion symptoms, was an absolute force. At 6-foot-2, she was able to use her combination of size and athleticism to get what she wanted against an Ashland squad that lacks size.
Despite not scoring in the fourth quarter, Gogolin still finished with 20 points and 19 rebounds, with 10 of her points and 11 of her rebounds coming in the first half.
“We let our defense create our offense, and with that I take a lot of pride in rebounding creating offense,” she said. “I just tried to box out every time on offense and defense. That often led to transition for my guards or put-backs for myself. We did a good job of boxing out and rebounding.”
As for Morningstar, she finished with 18 points, but she also held Madden to just 10 points (three coming at the free throw line), well below her average of 16 per game.
“I just tried to pressure the ball as much as possible, stay with her, and fight through every screen,” Morningstar, a junior, said. “It's just about making everything hard for her.”