EASTON — Sarah Hilliard's experience paid off on Friday night.
The senior gathered nine points and 11 rebounds, as fifth-seeded Oliver Ames defeated No. 13 Whitman-Hanson in front of a full home crowd to move on to the Div. 2 girls basketball semifinals with an exciting 33-32 win.
“I’ve been here a long time,” said Oliver Ames coach Brian Costello. “I’ve been on the boys' side as well, and I've never seen anything similar to this at all. It's everything you dream of in a high school basketball atmosphere, I think. Two really good teams, two communities that just love their school and athletics, and that just come out in huge numbers to support. We certainly gave them their money’s worth.”
So many fans came that some had to be turned away at the gate. The teams engaged in a defensive battle to start, as Oliver Ames (17-6) took a narrow 6-2 lead into the second quarter.
Then senior Katherine Farley helped provide a much needed burst off the bench. The forward finished with six points in the first half to help Oliver Ames build a comfortable 22-8 lead at the break.
Yet, Costello and his staff were still hesitant to look ahead. Whitman-Hanson had overcome large deficits multiple times this season even within recent playoff play.
Jenna Mishou scored a three-pointer to open the third quarter, and the Panthers (18-5) started to lessen the gap. With just over a minute to play in the quarter, Maliah Pierre passed to Mishou, who made a layup to reduce a once big lead to just 24-23.
“I guess if you looked at both of us, going through this as well, that this was inevitably what this game was going to turn into.” Costello said. “Credit to (Whitman-Hanson), they had such a great run. They’re so well-coached, and their mentality to just never give up (was admirable). To be in two games where they had that point total at the half and then come back is just a testament to what they have there.”
The Tigers responded by ending the quarter with a 4-0 run, and found themselves holding onto a 28-23 lead. From there, it became a matter of making defensive stops.
A few fans may have quickly left to beat the traffic rush when Avery Gamble drove to the basket for a late layup, giving Oliver Ames a 32-26 lead with just over a minute left in regulation.
However, Whitman-Hanson had one final surge left. With 13.2 seconds to play, Lillie MacKinnon scored a three-pointer for the Panthers to close it to a one-point contest at 32-31.
After Mari Hughes made one of two free throws to put Oliver Ames up, 33-31, the Tigers committed their fifth foul with 4.6 seconds remaining, sending Mishou to the free throw line. The sophomore missed her initial attempt, and a timeout was called.
Mishou made the second attempt to make it a one-point game, but the Panthers were unable to foul, and Oliver Ames was able to run out the remaining seconds.
Gamble contributed seven points for Oliver Ames.
Mishou finished with 15 points and nine rebounds for Whitman-Hanson. Junior Taryn Leonard added three points and 10 boards for the Panthers.
Oliver Ames will try to make it to its second Div. 2 championship game in the last three seasons as it faces top-ranked Medfield in the Final Four.
“It was a lot,” Hilliard said. “Our main focus was to maintain our concentration. We're not allowing the opponent or the crowd to distract us. It's us against everyone else. All we needed was ourselves, and that's how we united and secured this victory.”
