06/10/2017

Foxboro’s Comeback Comes Up Short In D2 East Final

Foxboro girls lacrosse — Foxboro’s Meghan Curran is double teamed by a pair of Walpole defenders in the first half. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)

MILFORD, Mass. – While it wasn’t a favorable position, it wasn’t an unfamiliar one. For the second time this season, Foxboro girls lacrosse trailed Walpole at halftime, but this time around it was just a two goal deficit.

Unfortunately for the second-seeded Warriors, the second half played out in familiar fashion. Foxboro rallied back from a five goal deficit to cut it to one, but couldn’t get over the hump, falling 12-10 to the top-seeded Rebels in the MIAA D2 East Sectional Final.

“We were hoping we’d have the push we needed to get ahead over the last 25 minutes,” said Foxboro head coach Brittany Sherry. “We’ve had games we were down and come back before so we’ve been in that situation. But it was just too much of a lead today. Our shot selection wasn’t great and we needed to take care of the ball better than we did.”

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A highlight goal from Catherine Luciano tied the game at 3-3 with just over 12 minutes to play in the first half, but the Rebels rattled off three straight goals over a seven minute span. Luciano took a feed from Caroline McGeary to cut the deficit to two with just over a minute remaining and freshman goalie Sara Addeche had a big save with 10 seconds left in the half to keep it at 6-4.

But unlike in the first meeting when Foxboro completely shut Walpole out int eh second half, the Rebels went right to work on the offensive end in the second half. Emily Curtis put Walpole up three, 7-4, with a goal less than two minutes in but after an interception from Hallie Canfield, Foxboro responded with an 8-meter goal from Luciano.

The big difference in the game came in the next ten minutes as Walpole used lengthy possessions and finishes right in front to complete a 4-1 lead.

Back to back goals from Alison Foley in a two minute window put the Rebels up by four before Meghan Curran could get Foxboro back on the board on a restart two minutes later. After a four minute break between goals, Walpole cashed in on a long offensive spell with Curtis depositing one in.

A minute later, Foley tallied another and Walpole took a commanding 11-6 lead with 11 minutes to play.

“[Walpole] did great with manipulating our zone,” Sherry We tried to get our girls to be closer but Walpole has speed, size and they see the cutters and the open players very well.

“We were on a five or six game roll of taking care of the ball and not having silly turnovers but we see those Walpole uniforms and we seemed to panic. We practiced it but the turnovers were a killer.”

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But just when it looked like that might be it the Hockomock League’s Davenport division champs, its offense came to life.

With just under nine minutes to go, Lauren Flahive scored on an 8-meter try with a bounce shot. Just over two minutes later, Mackenzie Cusack took a feed from Christina Rogers – who had made a nice defensive play at midfield – and tossed her shot over the shoulders of the Walpole keeper.

Foxboro’s defense came up with its biggest stop of the game after another lengthy Walpole possession. On the offensive end, Curran used her speed to blow around the Walpole defense and fired one in to make it 11-9.

After a draw win from Caroline Boudreau, the Foxboro offense went right back to work. Luciano continued her terrific performance, beating a defender one on one and going low to get the Warriors within one, 11-10, with 3:16 to play.

“We were driving more,” Sherry said of what changed during the comeback. “Luciano had a great game, I think she had four goals and it was because she was driving. Others just weren’t pulling the trigger on that and weren’t driving to the cage. It’s tough to put points on the board if you’re just passing it around instead of driving. We had our spurts at times and then other times, not so much.”

Walpole capitalized on a Foxboro turnover in the defensive end and scored with just under two minutes left and then took possession for the final minute, running the majority of the clock out until a very late break from Foxboro.

Foxboro girls lacrosse finishes the season 17-5.

“This is the furthest we’ve gone and the kids have worked really hard to be here,” Sherry said. “And it wasn’t easy either. Wayland was tough the other day, and our schedule was set up all year to be tough. Next time, hopefully we get the result we wanted.”

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05/18/2017

Franklin Holds Off Foxboro In Crossover Clash

By Josh Schafer, HockomockSports.com Contributor

FOXBORO, Mass. – Foxboro won the final draw control of the game and charged down the field. But with just under 10 seconds remaining, there wasn’t enough time to set a up a play. Instead, time ran out just before the Warriors could release their final shot.

If there was another second left, Foxboro might’ve scored its seventh goal of the half and completed a stunning comeback.

Instead the clocked hit double zeros and Franklin recorded its second straight one goal victory, 9-8, over Foxboro in a battle of division leaders. The win clinched at least a share of the Kelley-Rex title for Franklin — the sixth straight for the Panthers.

Foxboro’s Molly Murphy cut the deficit to just one with 11 seconds to play, but Foxboro couldn’t get a shot off to tie the game before the buzzer.

Similar to its victory over defending state champions Westwood on Monday, Franklin relied on its defense and clung to its lead.

“Franklin is top three in the state,” Foxboro head coach Brittany Sherry said. “So hanging with them first of all, and winning would be a plus. We’ve never beat them – it’s a program goal of ours, always has been.”

When the division champions battled a year ago, Franklin handled Foxboro 13-8 — and this year’s game began in similar fashion.

Senior Caroline Lounsbury scored the first two goals for Franklin on feeds from freshman Erin Walsh. The senior attack caught both feeds at full speed, cut towards the net and finished to the left of Foxboro goalkeeper Sara Addeche. A mishap in front of the net led to an own goal for Foxboro, giving the Kelley-Rex leading Panthers an early three goal advantage.

But after that, Foxboro’s defense settled in. The Warriors’ zone stifled the Panthers over the last 35 minutes allowing just six goals to a Franklin team which had previously been held to single digit scoring just four times this season. Addeche compiled 10 saves while her counterpart, Franklin freshman Gianna Cameron, tallied eight.

“We kind of took advantage of the fact that they were young and our zone just kept their composure,” Sherry said. “We try not to put them on the line and make them make them mistakes.”

After trailing 5-2 at the half, Foxboro dictated pace in the second half. The possessions lengthened from barely half a minute in the first half to nearly two minutes per possession in the second half. The Warriors’ offense was patient and waited for opportunities to arise.

And they did.

Jackie Brion scooped a ground ball and cleared it the length of the field. She moved the ball on to Meghan Curran, who scored twice in the first half, as the sophomore was cutting down the alley. An additional pass reached Lauren Flahive before the senior fired it into the back of the net.

“If we played like we did in the second half in the first half I think we would’ve gotten a different result,” Sherry said.

In the few possessions, Franklin did capitalize. The Walsh sisters, Annie a sophomore, and Erin a freshman, combined for three of the last four goals of the games for Franklin. On the team’s second to last goal, Annie stood outside the circle of Warrior defenders and carefully lobbed the pass over their heads. The ball landed perfectly in a streaking Erin’s stick and the freshman cranked the shot just under the crossbar.

A few possessions later Lauren Bissanti ran from the bench straight through the Foxboro defense and caught a pass on the run down the center of the defense. She sent the eventual game winner to the bottom left corner.

Foxboro would make a late push with goals by Sophia DiCenso and Murphy, but it wasn’t enough and Franklin remained unbeaten in league play.

“A win is a win,” Franklin head coach Kristin Igoe Guarino said. “Our defense did well our goalie played well, we were aggressive but we could’ve played a lot better.”

Franklin (17-1 overall, 8-0 Hockomock) will look to clinch the Kelley-Rex title outright when it travels to Taunton on Thursday. Foxboro (13-3, 8-1) will look to bounce back on Friday with a trip to Attleboro.

04/11/2017

Tuesday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 04/11/17

Today’s games are listed below.

Baseball
Canton, 0 @ King Philip, 9 – Final – Junior Jeremy Rhines tossed a complete game shutout to earn the win for the Warriors. Rhines allowed just three hits while striking out nine batters. The Warriors’ offense came to life with 12 hits. Will Weir, Patrick Limerick, Ryan Coulter, and David Morganelli each had multiple hits.

Franklin, 2 @ Taunton, 5 – Final – Taunton jumped out to an early lead, scoring four runs in the first inning and never looked back. The Tigers added another run in the fourth inning. Sophomore Jack Moynihan tossed a complete game, striking out six without issuing a single walk. He allowed seven hits with just one earned run. At the plate, Moynihan went 2-for-3 with an RBI while Matt Machado added two hits, Joe Manchester had a double and an RBI and Christian Simoes hit a home run.

Softball
King Philip, 6 @ Canton, 0 – Final – King Philip sophomore Faith Turnese tossed a complete game shutout in her varsity debut, allowing just two hits while striking out six batters. Meghan Gorman had three hits for the Warriors, including a two-run home run. Jess Bonner added a two-run double for King Philip.

Stoughton, 17 vs. Brockton, 6 – Final – Gina Carafa took over in the circle in the fourth inning with the Black Knights trailing 6-4 and held Brockton scoreless over four innings of work with nine strikeouts. She also drove in what turned out to be the game-winning run with a triple. Jordan Lyons went 2-for-2 with three runs scored and three RBI. Nikki Coppola, Shannon Flaherty, Taylor Levine, and Carafa all had multi-hit games for Stoughton.

Boys Tennis
Franklin, 2 vs. Hopedale, 3 – Final

Girls Tennis
Franklin, 1 @ Taunton, 4 – Final

Boys Lacrosse
Foxboro, 13 @ Taunton, 0 – Final

Girls Lacrosse
Taunton, 4 @ Foxboro, 17 – Final – Lauren Flahive led the way for Foxboro with four goals, while Caroline Boudreau and Meghan Curran each had hat tricks. Foxboro got goals from nine different players. Delaney Powell scored a pair of goals for the Tigers, while Abbey Kingman and Alana Tavares each had one.

Boys Track
Attleboro, 89 @ King Philip, 47 – Final
Canton @ North Attleboro, 3:45
Taunton, 53 @ Mansfield, 83 – Final
Stoughton, 44 @ Milford, 91 – Final

Girls Track
Attleboro @ King Philip, 3:45

Canton @ North Attleboro, 3:45

Taunton, 71 @ Mansfield, 65 – Final – For Mansfield, sophomore Alexis Kiyanda ran amn outdoor PR in the 200, taking 2.5 seconds off to run a 26.8. Junior Madison Haughey won the high jump and qualified for states with a jump of 5-1 and also placed second in the hurdles. Junior Sophia Madonna won the discus while senior Julie Romano won the two mile. Mansfield also won the 4×100 relay (Olivia Horn, Julia Harrison, Angela Corkery, Amanda Mangano) and the 4×400 relay (Caitlin Whitman, Mikaela Maughn, Cassidy McMahon, Emma Oldow).

Stoughton, 56.66 @ Milford, 79.33 – Final

04/06/2017

2017 HockomockSports Girls Basketball Awards

Click here for the 2017 HockomockSports Girls Basketball Awards

03/13/2017

Foxboro Falls Short In D2 State Semifinal

Foxboro girls basketball — Foxboro’s Ashley Sampson drives to the basket in the second half against Arlington Catholic. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)

BOSTON, Mass. – Things were looking good for Foxboro after pitching a shutout in the third quarter, seizing control of its D2 State Semifinal against Arlington Catholic.

Unfortunately, the offense couldn’t quite keep up with the outstanding defense.

The Warriors kept Arlington Catholic without a point for a near 12 minute stretch — the final 3:50 of there first half, the entire eight minutes of the third quarter and the first couple of seconds of the fourth quarter.

However, Foxboro went just 1/10 from the field in the final frame. Meanwhile, the Cougars’ offense finally came to life, scoring 18 points — eight from the charity stripe — and picked up a 37-30 win over the Warriors to advance to the D2 State Final on Saturday.

“Unfortunately, the shots just weren’t falling in the fourth quarter,” said Foxboro head coach Lisa Downs. “To hold a team like that scoreless in third quarter, it was looking pretty optimistic for us. But the shots just weren’t falling tonight.”

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Arlington Catholic surged to a 19-10 lead halfway through the second quarter but Foxboro’s defense — and offense — turned it up. The Warriors didn’t allow any points the rest of the half while rattling off a 7-0 run. To start that run, junior Ashley Sampson (13 points, 11 rebounds) drained a three to eclipse the 1,000 point mark for her career.

“Obviously it’s great for her to get her 1,000th point and we’re extremely proud of her,” Downs said. “But she could have cared less about that tonight. She just wanted to win. That attitude bodes well for everyone on the team. The team chemistry, that’s what I’m going to miss more than anything to tell you the truth.”

“I honestly really didn’t care about scoring the 1,000th point, we just wanted to get the win,” Sampson said. “It didn’t happen but we’re going to work just as hard as we did this year to try and get back here next year and hopefully get the ‘W.’”

Riley Collins (five points) added a basket and Grace Tamulionis (five points, six rebounds) converted a put back just before the buzzer to get the Warriors within two, 19-17, at the break.

“We definitely had our looks,” Downs said. “Especially in the first half, we had some bunnies and some short jumpers. Usually our shooting percentage is far better than it was tonight, which will happen, but usually our defense will make up for that and give us additional opportunities. And we had those tonight, but they were very aggressive on defense. Ashley was getting double teamed, sometimes triple teamed and we just weren’t reversing the ball quite enough.”

Foxboro kept the momentum up in the third quarter. Lily Sykes gave the Warriors the lead with a three 90 seconds into the third quarter. Sykes added a free throw, Sampson hit three free throws and Collins drained a three in the final minute to give the Warriors a 26-19 lead through three.

“Those kids from Foxboro, their heart was ridiculous,” said Arlington Catholic coach David Brady. “I thought they scratched and clawed within the rules of basketball to rebound the ball. You get to this point, nobody wants to lose, nobody wants to quit. Foxboro was an incredible team tonight.”

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Arlington’s offense came to life in the fourth quarter, mainly by attacking the basket and getting to the line. Erin Donlan (13 points) broke the scoreless streak with a free throw eight seconds into the final frame. Donlan then added two more free throws and then hit a layup to cut the deficit to 26-24. Monica Rayo (eight points, five points) then tied the game with just under six minutes to play and hit another basket a minute later to give the Cougars a 28-26 lead, capping a 9-0 run.

Foxboro’s offense finally broke into the scoring column in the fourth quarter, taking the lead back on a three from Tamulionis at 29-28. Lauren Flahive stretched the lead to two with a free throw with 2:31 to play, but that would be the last of Foxboro’s scoring.

AC’s Lena Perez 11 points, 15 rebounds) tied the game off an inbounds play with just under two minutes to go. Foxboro came up empty on its offensive possession, and the Cougars’ Alexandra Bell (eight rebounds) his a turn-around jumper with 1:20 to play to give AC the lead back.

Foxboro missed a shot and then had a turnover on the next possession, forcing the Warriors into foul mode. AC made five free throws in the final 44 seconds to seal the deal.

“I think defensively we were scrappy as we always are. We created opportunities for ourselves but on the offensive end, when we didn’t set the offense exactly as we normally do, we weren’t getting the looks we normally do. The ones we were getting weren’t the ones we wanted, it just wasn’t our night unfortunately.”

Brady admitted the Cougars’ main defensive game plan focused on Sampson.

“They hit some big shots but we had to live with it a little bit,” Downs said. “To try and take Sampson away, are you kidding me? That girls fantastic. It takes a village to stop her, she’s something else.”

Foxboro girls basketball finishes the season at 22-3 and as Davenport division champions.

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03/11/2017

Fourth Quarter Rally Lifts Warriors to South Title

BROCKTON, Mass. – Two years ago in the Div. 2 South final, freshmen Ashley Sampson and Grace Tamulionis combined for 20 points in a loss to eventual state champion Duxbury. On Saturday afternoon, Sampson, Tamulionis, and the Warriors returned to Brockton High and used that experience to good effect to rally Foxboro in the fourth quarter.

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Sampson scored eight of her game-high 19 points in the final quarter (and added 10 rebounds as well) and Tamulionis scored six of her 11 points in the fourth to bring Foxboro back from a point down to beat Westwood 47-38 and claim the program’s first sectional title since 2003 and book a trip to the TD Garden.

“I think having been in here before, even though it was two years ago, was a huge advantage,” said Foxboro coach Lisa Downs. “I’m sure that a lot of their team hadn’t been in this venue with this many people. Even though they’re juniors, they play like seniors and they weren’t cautious at the end.”

Tamulionis added, “Knowing the environment really helped with all the fans and I know freshmen year everyone was nervous but this year almost all of us had been here before so it really helped.”

The Wolverines did not look overwhelmed by the environment early and came out strong in the first quarter with senior forward Carly Sugrue knocking down a pair of threes and scoring eight of her 13 points. Haley Connaughton also hit one from deep and Allison Morin had three assists, as the Westwood offense was clicking at the start.

Sampson was keeping the Warriors afloat on the offensive end with eight points in the first, all coming off drives to the basket. Foxboro’s aggressiveness driving to the basket led to seven Westwood fouls in the opening quarter. Junior Shannon Smally (six rebounds) also provided a spark with three points and a couple boards in the first.

“She did a lot of the things today that we’ve been asking her to do all along,” said Downs of Smally. “Luckily, it’s gotten to the point that she’s doing things in March we asked her to do in December, but she timed it perfectly.”

Foxboro trailed 17-14 after one and would continue to struggle shooting from the outside for the better part of the next two quarters. The Warriors stayed in the game in large part due to a defensive effort that held the Wolverines to only 21 points over the final 24 minutes.

“We just had to focus on our defense,” said Sampson. “Our shots weren’t falling, but our defense is what got us back into it.”

With Westwood leading 24-19, Foxboro inbounded the ball to Lily Sykes for a half-court heave as the half expired. The horn sounded and the shot fell short, but an official’s whistle blew just before the clock read all zeroes and Sykes made 2-of-3 free throws to cut the lead to just three.

In the second half, Downs made a change and put Sampson on Sugrue, a switch that limited the Westwood forward to just two points after the break.

Downs explained, “Ashley’s got these long arms because Carly does a good job with these step back jumps and Ashley can just get a little more in her face.”

Foxboro finally found the range from three. Sykes (seven points) buried her only shot of the game to cut the lead to 26-24. After a Westwood basket, Sykes drove baseline and kicked it all the way out to the three-point line for Riley Collins to knock one down and tie the game. The Wolverines responded with four straight but then again Collins got a clean look and hit from three sending Foxboro into the fourth down just 32-31.

Tamulionis said, “No one got frustrated and I think that really helped. When coach called timeout, she just kind of settled us down a little and we knew that we had to step it up.”

Catherine Bonfiglio (team-high 14 points) started the fourth with a drive to the basket to extend the lead to three, but her six points accounted for all of Westwood’s points in the fourth. After a ragged start in which both teams missed a lot of open looks, Foxboro clamped down and contested every Westwood chance.

On the other end, Sampson, the Hockomock League MVP, started to assert herself. She drove baseline and finished with a reverse layup plus the foul and then knocked down a jumper off a Sykes assist to give Foxboro its first lead (36-34) since the first quarter.

When asked if she knew that it was time to be aggressive at that point, Sampson replied, “I don’t know. When I got the third foul, I kind of got into my own head. I just had to calm down and play.”

Tamulionis stepped up next, knocking down a long jumper off a Smally kick out to extend the lead to four and then stepped a couple feet further back to drain an open three that made it 41-36 with 1:05 remaining.

Foxboro went 6-of-8 at the line in the closing minute to complete its run as the top seed in the South by lifting the sectional championship trophy.

“I knew we had it in us,” Downs said, “and I never panicked too much because I could see it in their eyes that they had this game within their grasp and it was theirs to win or lose. Defense was going to win it for us.

“It’s so exciting. The girls knew that they could win today and never looked back.”

Tamulionis said, “It’s awesome. The whole year, the whole team has worked so hard and we deserve it. Everyone has done a great job all year.”

Foxboro (22-2) advances to the Eastern Mass. final at the TD Garden on Monday at 5:45 to play the winner of Arlington Catholic and Hamilton-Wenham.

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03/04/2017

Foxboro Starts Strong, Knocks Out Hingham

FOXBORO, Mass. – Coming off a difficult opening round game against No. 16 seed Scituate, top seeded Foxboro wanted to send a message right from the start in Saturday afternoon’s Div. 2 South quarterfinal against 2016 sectional runner-up Hingham.

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The Warriors came out firing on all cylinders, started 7-for-9 from the field, with six assists on those seven baskets, and scored 21 points in the opening quarter against the Harborwomen, nearly half of what they scored in the entire first round game.

Thanks to the strong start, Foxboro never trailed at any point against Hingham. In fact, the Harborwomen never got closer than nine points (midway through the second quarter) and Foxboro eased into the semifinal with a 62-39 victory.

“That first game jitters,” said Foxboro coach Lisa Downs about the Warriors’ struggles in the tournament opener. “Even though they seem like a confident team, in that we’ve been here, until you step on the court in the state tournament…they freeze up a little bit, the shots get a little bit tighter, but they came right into the game tonight ready to take care of business.”

Senior guard Kristen Bortolotti was injured prior to the beginning of the playoffs and in her absence, junior forward Shannon Smally was given a spot in the starting lineup. She made it count scoring six of her 10 points in the first and providing a spark in the post on both ends of the floor.

“That was huge,” said Downs of Smally’s contribution, “and it’s been right below the surface for the entire season and I’ve been begging her to unleash it and she did tonight. She was just confident out there; she was strong with the ball; she was doing the things that she shows in practice all along. She was huge for us tonight.”

Lily Sykes drilled a pair of threes in the first and Grace Tamulionis knocked down a baseline jumper and a three to help Foxboro extend the lead out to 10 points, 21-11, by the end of the quarter. Defensively, the Warriors also made a switch from their typical man-to-man to a 2-3 zone to try and limit Hingham’s ability to get into the paint.

“I’m mixing it up,” said Downs. “Their game is primarily driving, so we were just trying to take away the middle and force them to shoot from the perimeter. They were starting to hit some and we weren’t boxing out well enough, so I was more comfortable settling back into what we know best, which is man.”

The second quarter was very different for Foxboro, which only scored six points and made two shots from the floor, but the defense, whether in man or zone, clamped down and held Hingham to only one basket and three points. Senior Lauren Flahive was an important cog in that defense with four first half steals, as well as six rebounds and two assists.

“She does so much out there that even someone four inches taller than her couldn’t be doing,” said Downs of Flahive. “She does all those intangible things that, unless you break her game down, you’re not going to recognize she does. She’s so effective at her craft.”

The Warriors led by 13 at the break and never allowed Hingham to get any closer, although there was still some trepidation that the Harborwomen could go on a run.

Ashley Sampson, who was named Hockomock MVP by the league coaches, had picked up a third foul (in what appeared to be a case of mistaken identity) and sat for a few minutes but Downs decided to bring her back with about three minutes left in the third and a 13-point lead.

“She’s smart enough that she’s not going to pick up that next foul,” Downs explained, “and I changed her defensive assignment too to someone who wasn’t as involved in the offense, but I needed her on the court.”

The move paid off. Sampson, who had only scored six points up to that point, buried a step-back three and then drove to the basket to close out the third quarter with Foxboro ahead by 17, 38-21.

In the fourth, Sampson took over. She scored 13 of her game-high 24 points, shooting 9-of-10 from the free throw line, as Hingham tried to extend the game with fouls. Tamulionis also came through in the fourth with five of her 12 points and Riley Collins nailed a corner three to add some separation in the final minute.

Although Hingham was never really that close in the second half, Downs admitted that it was only in the final couple of minutes that she started to feel like the game was in control.

She said, “I think it was only with four or five minutes left in the fourth that I said, okay I can breathe now. They’re a very good team and they came back against Oliver Ames. I never felt real comfortable until about four minutes left.”

As the Warriors move forward in the tournament, they will miss not having Bortolotti in the lineup but Downs is confident that the other players can pick up the slack on both ends of the floor.

“Of course it’s devastating not to have Kristen out there,” she said, “but if we all do just one or two more things that we don’t normally do…everybody pick up the slack a little bit, then everything will take care of itself.”

Foxboro (20-2) will face No. 4 North Attleboro in the Div. 2 South semifinal at Massasoit Community College on Monday night at 5:30. The teams split two meetings in the regular season.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

02/17/2017

Warriors Run Past North Attleboro, Clinch League Title

FOXBORO, Mass. – For the past month, Foxboro and North Attleboro have been taking care of business on the court with half an eye on each other’s results. Since the two teams last met on Jan. 20, North went 5-2 (despite missing senior guard Ashley Ahern for all seven games) including a five-game win streak entering Friday night. Meanwhile, Foxboro rattled off nine straight wins, eight off those coming in the league.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.Grace Tamulionis scored 11 points, knocking down a trio of three-pointers, and all four of her shots were assisted by Lily Sykes (seven assists). Kristen Bortolotti also got off to a strong start with six of her 12 points in the first.

“It’s what they’ve been doing,” said North Attleboro coach Derek Herber. “They’ve been hot for a while. Once they got that consistent third shooter then they present a matchup problem for anyone. I was hoping we could mix and match and keep them uncomfortable but unfortunately they came out and shot the ball very well.”

The lead stretched to as many as 18 in the second quarter, after a Lauren Flahive (six points) jumper, but North started to find the range on offense and slow down the Warriors. Samantha Taggart scored seven of her team-high 12 in the second and assisted on a Caroline Collard (seven points, seven rebounds) jumper that cut the lead to 28-21.

It was as close as the Rocketeers would get for the rest of the night. Hailey Maling drove and kicked out to Riley Collins for a three that regained a double digit lead for the hosts at the break.

“Obviously, we had a great first quarter and we were bound to have a little bit of an offensive letdown in the second, but to be up by 10 going into halftime I was pleased with that,” said Downs. “Just the way the came out and the amount of energy they showed, I knew we were in for a good game.”

Foxboro came out of halftime intent on putting the game away and that is what the Warriors did, using an 11-0 run to extend the lead to 21 points (46-25). Ashley Sampson (game-high 19 points) was the aggressor for the Warriors, scoring seven in the third including a corner three off a Sykes assist and then going coast-to-coast for a layup off a steal. Bortolotti and Tamulionis (18 points) each added four in the quarter.

“In the second quarter we were able to score and defend a little better and keep them disrupted. In the third quarter, we just couldn’t sustain it offensively,” said Herber, whose team trailed 50-32 entering the fourth.

On Monday night against Bridgewater-Raynham, Foxboro had only four players get on the score sheet, but on Friday eight Warriors scored at least two points. That balance made it difficult for North to send help for Emily Schromm on Sampson and the senior got into foul trouble in the third quarter. In the end, Schromm and Collard would both foul out.

“The problem is the third player,” Herber explained. “We can cover two, but the third player is a tough matchup for us. We need to keep our bigs in the game to score on offense but it puts them in a bind on defense.”

Foxboro also had a decisive edge on the glass, despite North’s advantage in height. The Warriors were plus-10 on the boards, which Downs credited to a total team effort.

She said, “That hasn’t been our story all season long…especially against a team that has some height on us…They were all contributing to keeping that ball and getting second and third opportunities.”

Julia Feid scored a traditional three-point play to cut the lead to 19 in the fourth, but Foxboro responded to seal the win and the title. Sampson hit a pair of free throws (two of her six points in the fourth and 13 in the second half) and then assisted on a Maling jumper. Maling then provided her second assist of the game on a kick-out to Tamulionis for a dagger three.

“You can’t win games with two or three girls scoring,” Downs said, “and we have scorers, so we have to make sure that we keep them in the offense and we’re rotating the ball to get different looks from different people so that we’re a hard matchup.”

After clinching its eighth league title and second in the past three seasons, Foxboro (16-2, 14-2) will try to sew up the top seed in Div. 2 South in its end-of-season Warrior Classic beginning with Whitman-Hanson on Monday. North Attleboro (15-5, 13-3) will also try to work on its seeding for Div. 2 South and get revenge for an earlier loss when it travels to Attleboro.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

02/13/2017

Sampson Goes for 31, as Foxboro Continues to Roll

FOXBORO, Mass. – Despite school being canceled in Foxboro due to a storm that never materialized, the Warriors began a very important week by hosting a non-league game with Bridgewater-Raynham, a team that they beat by nearly 30 points the first time around.

Monday’s second meeting was considerably closer. Foxboro had only four players get on the score sheet (and one of those players had a single point), but one of those four was junior guard Ashley Sampson and she scored a game-high 31 to lead the Warriors to a 56-44 win, their eighth in a row, and a sweep of the Trojans.

It also kicked off a busy week that could end with Foxboro clinching its second league title in three seasons.

“We like to control the tempo of the game and push the ball when we want to push it and slow it down when we want to slow it down,” said Foxboro coach Lisa Downs, “and they started to control the tempo, which is a little unsettling, but the girls righted the ship when they needed.”

At the beginning of the game, the Warriors looked like a team that was still enjoying a restful snow day and B-R was able to jump out to a 12-7 lead behind 10 first quarter points from senior Kelly Page (team-high 19).

“We were a little sluggish,” Downs admitted. “I love everything the same; I love routine. So, to not have the same routine, I don’t like it and they’re teenage girls and they need it the same every time.”

Foxboro woke up and found a groove to close out the first half on a 19-4 run to take control of the game. Grace Tamulionis (nine points, six rebounds, five steals, and three blocks) got things started with a jumper in the lane from a Kristen Bortlotti assist. Sampson scored in transition to cut the lead to one and, after the Trojans scored on an offensive rebound, Lily Sykes drove to the basket for two of her 15.

Sampson ended the first with free throws to give the hosts a 15-14 lead and Foxboro clamped down in the second quarter, allowing only two points to go ahead by double digits at halftime. Sykes and Sampson each scored four and Tamulionis drilled a straightaway three off a Lauren Flahive assist to make it 26-16 at the break.

B-R started to find its offense in the third quarter and cut the lead to as few as three points at 34-31. Page added another five points and Nina Morrison had seven of her nine in the third, as the Trojans took control of the glass and had Foxboro on its heels.

Needing a spark, Foxboro turned to Sampson and the junior delivered. She went on a personal 9-2 run and the Warriors regained a double digit lead. She scored on the break and then, after Sykes had one of her eight steals, Sampson added another layup plus the foul. Another Sykes steal led to another easy basket and Sampson capped the quarter with a reverse for a 43-33 lead.

“When Lily and Ashley are on together,” said Downs, “there’s not many teams that can stop that combination. Grace was a little off tonight offensively…but we did what we needed to do and at this point in the season I’m happy with that kind of win.”

Again B-R tried to cut into the lead in the fourth, but a Sampson three-point play made the lead nine points, then Sykes scored on a drive to the basket, and Tamulionis got an open look for three off an assist by Flahive (seven rebounds, four assists, two blocks), who also fed Sampson for a layup that put Foxboro up by 14.

“I thought for the most part we did well but it got a little frantic at the end,” Downs said. “We just have to remain more composed going into the tournament when the games start to get tighter.”

Foxboro (14-2, 12-2) will get back into league play with Canton on Tuesday night then a showdown with fellow league leader North Attleboro on Friday in a game that will decide the winner of the Davenport division.

02/01/2017

Sampson Powers Foxboro to Critical Win at Attleboro

ATTLEBORO, Mass. – Over the past couple of games, Foxboro has been able to turn to some of its supporting cast for big nights. Lily Sykes scored 19 in the win over Oliver Ames and on Sunday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Center it was Grace Tamulionis who stepped up with a career-high 20 points to beat Sharon.

On Wednesday night at Attleboro, the now league-leading Warriors were able to turn to star Ashley Sampson. Not only did the junior guard scored a game-high 27 points and snag seven steals, but she also took turns guarding Bombardiers star forward Sarah Deyo. It was the kind of all-around performance that head coach Lisa Downs has been counting on from Sampson.

“She was a leader on the court tonight, which is what I’ve been asking of her pretty much from day one,” Downs explained. “She took control of the offensive end and she had the tough defensive matchup…so it wasn’t like she got to take a rest on the defensive end.”

Sampson’s big night helped Foxboro pull out a 58-46 victory over the Bombardiers and keep the Warriors in a first place tie with North Attleboro atop the Davenport division standings. Meanwhile, the defeat dropped Attleboro two games behind Mansfield in the Kelley-Rex.

“It all comes with preparation and we’re not preparing ourselves well enough for a team that’s aggressive and fast like that,” said Attleboro coach Rick Patch. “When you get off to a slow start and get down a little bit, it’s hard to come back against a team like that.”

After the game, Downs called the first half defensive performance by the Warriors as their best of the season. Foxboro used its team speed, depth, and versatility to stymie the Bombardiers. The Warriors held Attleboro to just 17 points as a team in the half and held Samantha Pierce and Julia Strachan scoreless over the opening 16 minutes of play.

Downs added, “That was the key. We had to keep fresh legs on Strachan and they did a fantastic job holding her to zero points in the first half and then Deyo is a matchup nightmare, so we had to know whoever we put in there had to be as physical as they can be, which is not always our strong suit.”

Foxboro added Lauren Flahive to the starting lineup on Wednesday, going smaller but adding speed. It paid dividends immediately, as the Warriors used a 13-0 run to break the game open in the first quarter. Sampson scored seven in the first and Kristen Bortolotti added four. Tamulionis (team-high nine rebounds), fresh off her career-high on Sunday, buried a pair from beyond the arc for six of her 12 on the night.

Deyo had four in the first and assisted on a three by Jordyn Lako to close out the quarter but the Bombardiers trailed by 12 points. Deyo, who finished with 15 points an 15 rebounds, added another six points in the second, but she was struggling to get the ball in good positions and four of her five baskets in the first half came from offensive rebounds.

“We go up and down too,” said Patch, ‘and my whole point with [the girls] was push the ball, go to the basket, and get points in the paint. That’s how we beat them last year with all our kids down and this year it was the game plan but it just wasn’t happening.”

Sampson buried a three off a Shannon Smally kick out and then stole the ball from Deyo, who was also bringing the ball up the court at times, and went in for a layup. Sykes (10 points) drilled a three and it was a 31-17 lead at half for the visitors.

“We knew we had to play our best defense to beat a quality team like Attleboro,” said Downs. “They’re going to fight you tooth and nail every possession, so if you can take care of business on the defensive end and hold their offense lower than they have in recent game then we knew we’d be in decent shape.”

Coming out of halftime, Attleboro started to pick up the pace and tried to cut into the lead, scoring as many points in the third as it had in the entire first half. Deyo twice got the ball at the rim for easy baskets, Grace Mayer (five points) buried a corner three, and Pierce (eight points) finally got going with four in the quarter.

Foxboro held onto a double digit lead through the third thanks to eight more points by Sampson, including a baseline drive to the basket plus the foul that pushed the lead to as many as 17 points. Bortlotti (seven points) ended a mini-run by the Bombardiers to give Foxboro a 47-34 lead heading to the fourth.

Attleboro gave the Warriors a scare in the fourth by scoring the opening eight points to cut the lead down to as little as five. Pierce had four of those points and Lako scored in transition from a Mish Logie assist. The home crowd was making noise and the bench was fired up, but the Warriors forced a pair of turnovers and took back control.

After Sykes knocked down a couple of free throws, Sampson took the ball baseline and got to the rim and then on the next possession again got into the heart of the Attleboro defense for another layup that put Foxboro ahead 53-42. Sykes closed out the game going 5-of-8 from the line.

“We just lost our poise, had two or three turnovers that resulted in two baskets on the other end that made it 11 and it’s hard to overcome that,” Patch said. “It’s definitely discouraging but we’ve got to get better preparation.”

This was a big win for Foxboro to stay level with the Rocketeers, which beat King Philip earlier in the night.

Downs said, “It was huge. Before tonight we were tied with North but head-to-head they were one up on us, so we knew we had to win this game. It was a big one.”

Foxboro (10-2, 9-2) will look to extend its win streak to five games at Sharon on Friday. Attleboro (12-3, 8-3) will try to bounce back at home against King Philip.