STOUGHTON, Mass. – Jasmine Davis stepped to the line with just a few seconds remaining on the clock with the opportunity to seal Sharon’s first road win of the season and cap yet another big game from the league’s leading scorer. Despite missing both on her last trip to the line, Davis calmly sank two, making it a two possession game and ending Stoughton’s furious comeback attempt.
With those free throws, Davis finished with 30 points, 20 rebounds, two blocks, and three assists, and Sharon needed just about all of that to pull out the 51-47 victory.
Sharon coach Matt DellaBarba said, “Jasmine is clearly the focus, she’s obviously very talented, but we keep telling the other girls, when they double- and triple-team Jasmine, they’re going to have opportunities and we need to make the most of them. They did exactly that tonight.”
Stoughton fell behind by 10 points early in the fourth quarter, but rather than allow the game to get out of hand (and after scoring only four points in the third) the Black Knights rallied. Katrina Varnum (six points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks) hit a short jumper on a dish from freshman Kirsten McKay. Freshman Molly Fox followed with a shot on the baseline, again off a pass from McKay, to cut the lead down to 42-37.
After Davis scored again in the post, Leah McCarty (seven points and four steals) hit one of two shots at the line on back-to-back trips. Davis made two more at the line, but Raina Tat (15 points) stole the ball in the backcourt and converted the layup to stay within five. With the Black Knights closing fast, Sharon got the ball back into Davis’ hands, but Stoughton collapsed defensively and the junior forward kicked it out to classmate Eva Poulton (seven points and six rebounds) for a clutch three.
“We just try to keep building them up,” DellaBarba said about keeping the rest of the team confident to take shots when they get the chance. “Jasmine is incredibly talented but you need more than one girl to win and the girls are buying into that. We’re starting to click.”
Varnum made one of two at the line to make it a four-point game and Tat snatched the rebound, dribbled to the perimeter, and buried a jumper. The first official signaled that the shot was a three, but it went down as a long two, keeping Sharon’s lead at five. Tat made sure her next effort was well behind the line, drilling a big three and making it 49-47 with 16 seconds left.
“I think that’s what we’ve been doing all season long is battling back and not laying down,” explained first-year Stoughton coach Eric Adams. “We’re not giving up. As a young team, every day they come out here to practice from baseline to baseline and they play hard. That’s all I can ask for from a young team.”
Sharon nearly turned it over but managed to get to half court. After a timeout, the Eagles got the ball inbounds and 13 seconds ran off the clock before the Black Knights were able to get a foul. Davis stepped up and sealed the win.
The first quarter was a back-and-forth battle between the teams’ leading scorers. Davis looked unstoppable in the paint, scoring 11 of Sharon’s 14 in the first, with Tess Letendre (seven points and five assists) burying a three for the only other points from the visitors. McKay got off to a great start as well, nailing a step-back three to start the game and scoring seven in the quarter. Tat added another five to help Stoughton build a 17-14 lead.
Sharon rallied in the second. Davis kicked out to Letendre for a big three to go ahead 22-21, although Tat answered with one from deep to tie the game at 24 apiece. Davis continued to battle inside, scoring another nine points in the second, and Poulton came up with a couple of big buckets to help the Eagles go in front 32-28.
While the Eagles lean on Davis, for good reason, other players were stepping up with important shots. Bailey Garte hit a baseline jumper and a corner three to start the third quarter. Sharon would only get two more points in the frame, but the Eagles also held Stoughton to just one made field goal and four points, all from McKay (17 points).
“As a freshman, she exceed what we all expected of her,” Adams said of McKay. “Sometimes we ask too much of her, but she says that she can handle it and we’re going to ride that as long as we can.”
One key for Sharon was the play of point guard Olivia Landstein, who was pressured full-court all night but seemed unperturbed and able to get the Eagles into their sets. “She’s really been thrown to the wolves this year,” DellaBarba said about Landstein. “We didn’t start her for the first couple minutes tonight and let her see the game and watch it develop and I think she did a great job coming in and taking advantage of it.”
It looked like the Eagles might cruise to the win after going up by double digits, but the Black Knights kept fighting back, effort that their coach thinks has the team on the right track.
“Going against the No. 1 scorer in the Hockomock League,” Adams said, praising his team’s work on the defensive end. “All we have to do is adjust a few things for the next game and we’re going to have another thriller.
Sharon (3-11) will try to build on the win when it hosts North Attleboro on Tuesday. Stoughton (2-11) will face a tough visit from Franklin next week.
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