BOSTON, Mass. – In 2018, on its way to a state title, a snowstorm kept Foxboro from playing the state semifinal at TD Garden. Instead, a dramatic comeback against Pentucket took place at Woburn High. On Wednesday night, the Warriors had another opportunity to reach the final and this time got to play under the Garden’s bright lights.

This time, there was none of the drama from 2018. Foxboro allowed only two points in the first quarter, led by double digits at halftime, and rolled to a 52-35 victory over North champion North Reading to reach the state championship game for the second time in three years.

“Honestly, for the most part, I was like these lights are really bright,” senior Shakirah Ketant joked about the experience of playing at the Garden. “There were a couple times where I went up for a rebound and was like, I can’t see anything, but overall it was a really good experience. The court was amazing and all our fans coming out, just a great feeling.”

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While the lighting may have been different, it didn’t slow down Ketant, who recorded another double-double and dominated the paint on both ends of the floor. She finished with a game-high 16 points and 17 rebounds and added a pair of blocks, two assists, and two steals.

When asked about her strong play this postseason, Ketant replied with a smile, “How hard we work in practice and Coach [Brian] Brown just constantly being on us to be big, be big and us giving it our all going up strong for a board and going to the basket. We work on it every single day in practice, clearly it’s paying off.”

Foxboro got off to a perfect start, as Yara Fawaz (six points, three assists, and three steals), Katelyn Mollica (nine points) knocked down a jumper, and Ketant got two from an offensive rebound for a 6-0 lead. On the other end, the Warriors held North Reading scoreless for nearly six minutes.

“They have some quick guards, but we were able to keep some different girls, different legs on [Alexandria Grasso],” Foxboro coach Lisa Downs explained. “So many turnovers in that first quarter. I think it was just so much anxiety, get the kinks out a little bit on the Boston Garden floor. It all came back to defense because our shots were not going in tonight.”

After the Hornets finally got on the board, Lizzy Davis (five points, seven rebounds, and five assists) got to the rim for a pair and Ketant added two more with a basket off a Davis pass.

Leading 10-2, Foxboro got its offense going in the second quarter to build the lead to 12 by halftime. Mollica answered a North Reading three with one of her own and then found Fawaz for a bucket off an inbounds play. Ketant scored four points in the second and also assisted on a couple of mid-range jumpers for Abby Hassman (10 points and 12 rebounds).

“If it’s not falling on the outside, then we have to work inside then out and as we started working it inside they started doubling us down, packing the middle, and then we started kicking it out and started getting some open looks,” said Ketant.

It really felt like the Warriors could score at will in the post. “That was the plan,” said Downs. “Their guards were very aggressive, scrappy, so if we were able to get it in then we would try to use our size and our athleticism in the paint.”

The lead grew to as many as 21 points in the third quarter, as Foxboro continued to find holes in the North Reading defense. Hassman scored the first six points of the third for the Warriors, including a jumper after Fawaz grabbed an offensive rebound to keep a possession alive.

“That’s what she is so good at and I think she was just questioning herself in the first quarter,” Downs said of Hassman. “She wasn’t quite as smooth as she usually is. Once she got one in, I knew she’d find her rhythm.”

Davis buried a straightaway three, Jordyn Collins (six points) knocked down a short jumper, and Ketant added four more points (both baskets coming off Fawaz assists) to close out the quarter.

Foxboro led 44-24 heading into the fourth, but the Hornets wouldn’t go away easily. Lauren Sullivan (team-high 14 points) went on a personal 8-2 run, burying a pair of deep threes, and pulled North Reading within 14.

That would be as close as the North champs could get. Collins scored with a drive to the basket, Ketant grabbed yet another offensive rebound for two more, and Mollica capped the win with a layup in transition.

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“I think it was such a team effort,” Mollica said. “Everyone contributed on defense and offense and that’s huge. It helped us win the game.”

She added, “This whole season we’ve been saying make it to the Garden and let’s see what happens. We finally got here. It feels amazing to be back to have another shot at a state championship.”

Foxboro (24-2) will face Taconic, the West champion, in the state championship game on Saturday in Worcester at a time and location yet to be announced.

TAUNTON, Mass. – Offense can come and go, as every team is bound to have an off shooting night even in the playoffs, but the one common denominator for Foxboro’s run of four straight trips to the Div. 2 South semifinals has been defense.

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The Warriors put their defensive capabilities on full display again on Monday night at Taunton’s Rabouin Field House, as they held Old Rochester to just 11 points and three made baskets in the first half and held the Bulldogs under 30 points for the second time in two weeks.

Foxboro made it three South finals in four years with a 46-29 victory.

“We always say defense wins championships and we really focus on playing hard ‘D’ and trying to shut the other team down,” said senior forward Abby Hassman. “Our defense will make up for any bad shooting night we have. We’ve always had a strong defensive team [for the past four years] and I really think that’s carried us through.”

Old Rochester is a feisty defensive team as well and the Bulldogs continued to play Foxboro leading scorer Katelyn Mollica tough, limiting the junior to four points through the first three quarters and forcing an uncharacteristic amount of turnovers.

The difference between this year’s Foxboro team and the one that lost at the same stage last season is that there are other players that can produce on the offensive end. Hassman (six points, nine rebounds, and four steals) scored the game’s first four points and then dished it off for a layup from Shakirah Ketant.

After a couple of Ketant free throws, Lizzy Davis (nine points) knocked down a straightaway three and Mollica scooped in her first points of the night to make it 13-3 after one.

Logan Fernandes (eight points) hit a three to open the second quarter, but Davis answered right back with her second three of the night. Ketant then added a basket on an offensive rebound and knocked down a jumper off a Davis assist. She finished with 13 points and nine rebounds and continued to give the Warriors a different dimension in the paint.

“We just didn’t have that last year and Abby, as good as she is, isn’t a Shakirah,” said Foxboro coach Lisa Downs. “Abby is going to do her thing out there, but Shak is able to convert on a lot of those points out there.”

The Warriors only managed 10 points in the second but picked up two more points on the overall lead because they held the Bulldogs to only two made baskets in the quarter. It was 23-11 at the break.

“In the first half, I was thrilled with their defense and I thought Yara [Fawaz] and Abby worked their butts off inside the paint,” said Downs. “They were trying to get the ball inside and we made it very difficult and our help defense was there just in case they were able to lob it in.”

In the third quarter, the two teams combined to only make five shots from the floor, as defense continued to be the theme of the night. Foxboro did make 5-of-6 at the line and responded to Old Rochester’s 5-0 start to the quarter with a 5-1 run coming out of a timeout that restored a double digit lead. Jordyn Collins had one of her three steals and her only basket to cap the run.

“Last year, we would’ve just crumbled but now it’s seniors on the team, they’re able compose themselves a little better than a year ago, and able to look at the next play,” said Downs.

Hassman added, “We definitely knew that we could win it and we just had to bring it today. We just wanted to play lockdown defense the whole time and going into the second half we just needed a few more points to boost our confidence and carry it to the end.”

Any comeback hopes for Old Rochester were squashed early in the fourth, as the Warriors went on an 8-1 run to put the game away.

Fawaz started the quarter with a drive to the basket and then an offensive foul call against the Warriors was negated by a technical foul against the Bulldogs. Mollica made both at the line to make it 36-20. After the teams traded a free throw apiece, Mollica finally connected from the outside, spotting up in the corner off a Davis pass. She answered an Old Rochester bucket with a second three, scoring eight of her 12 points in the fourth.

Downs said, “The offense is going to come in ebbs and flows and everyone was a little tight I think. We can do better. You just have to win by one, so it doesn’t matter how pretty or not pretty it is, it’s just a matter of getting to the next game.

Defense continued to be the story, as Foxboro limited the Bulldogs to only three made field goals and nine points in the fourth to put the game to rest and seal a spot back in the finals.

Hassman couldn’t help but smile when it was mentioned that she has gone to the sectional final in three of her four years. “We’ve always had a really good team and it’s exciting to be a part of it. We worked really hard throughout the season and…I don’t know, it is really weird that this is normal now.”

Foxboro (22-2) will face No. 4 seed Hingham in the South final at Taunton High. The date and time of the game have yet to be determined.

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FOXBORO, Mass. – Although the score was only 6-2 in the first quarter, it was inevitable to start having flashbacks to last year’s South semifinal matchup. Foxboro was struggling at the offensive end, unable to find the range against the ball-hawking Pembroke defense. The hosts were in desperate need of a spark and senior forward Yara Fawaz gave them one.

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Fawaz (nine points and three steals) hit a pair at the line, turned a steal into a fastbreak layup, and then buried a straightaway three of a Katelyn Mollica pass to put the Warriors up 11-6. It was a 9-0 run for Foxboro and Fawaz scored seven of them. When she knocked down the three, the feeling of relief from the Warriors and the home fans was palpable.

“We knew with our speed and the way we fastbreak and all that and the endurance that we have that we could outpace them,” said Lizzy Davis (16 points), whose jumper accounted for the other two points in the run. “Yara was so good today and she hit those few baskets early in the game and it just built from there. Everybody just kind of fed off of that.”

Pembroke battled back to tie the game at 11-11, but never regained the lead. A more experienced, more confident, more battle-tested Foxboro team kept the defending South champions at arm’s length and avenged last year’s loss with a 56-43 win that puts the Warriors into the sectional semifinal for the fourth year in a row.

“I was like, can someone just hit the lid off that rim?” admitted Foxboro coach Lisa Downs. “I don’t care where it comes from but once we started getting in a groove we were going to be fine. It’s going to happen, just make sure to keep executing on defense, which is what they did.”

Foxboro led 11-8 after the first quarter and Pembroke scored the first three of the second to tie the game again, but the Warriors responded with a 15-5 run to close out the half with a double-digit lead.

Davis got things started when she grabbed a loose ball and spotted up for a three to put Foxboro in front. That was followed quickly by a three-pointer from Mollica (game-high 20 points) and a free throw by Abby Hassman to make it 18-11. After a basket by Kylie Gates, Hassman kicked out to Davis for her second three of the quarter.

The Titans continued to keep it close, as Katie Galligan scored to cut the lead down to 21-16, but on the next possession Jordyn Collins grabbed one of her six steals on the night and turned it into a layup. Collins locked down on Galligan, Pembroke’s all-time leading scorer, holding her to just seven points.

“She played awesome,” Downs said of Collins. “That’s the best she’s played since coming back from her injury. I think she wasn’t trusting herself until tonight and then the competitive juices were out there. Between Lizzy and Jordyn they did a good job shutting down Galligan.”

It was 26-16 at the break and, despite only scoring nine points in the third, the Warriors never allowed the visitors closer than seven points in the quarter. Mollica started to heat up, answering a Pembroke three with a deep one of her own and knocking down a floater on the baseline.

Shakirah Ketant (seven points), another player who has stepped into a much bigger role this season, knocked down a jumper in the third and provided a major presence in the paint all night, pulling down 17 rebounds.

“They have to pay attention to her, so they can’t have all the attention on Mollica and have two or three people on her,” Downs said about Ketant’s impact. “We have so many more offensive weapons than we did a year ago.”

Foxboro led by eight entering the fourth, but Pembroke quickly made it five with a three by Sophie Considine, one of three shots she knocked down from deep in the final quarter. Rather than let the Titans creep back in, Davis knocked down a pull-up jumper and Mollica drilled a three to get the lead back to 10.

After another Considine three, Mollica spotted up for one in the corner. She scored 10 points in the fourth. Ketant grabbed an offensive rebound and scored and suddenly Foxboro was up 12. Considine made another three to cut the lead to 47-38, but Davis (who was 1-for-7 at the line to that point) hit two free throws and then Collins grabbed yet another steal and threw it ahead to Mollica for a layup that effectively sealed the win.

“Last year there was such a bitter taste left in our mouths and we just wanted to come out and get revenge,” Davis explained. “We didn’t want to go 0-2 against another team and we had so much intensity that we wanted to bring and we clearly brought it.”

Foxboro (21-2) will take on the winner of Old Rochester and New Mission on Monday night at Taunton High.

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FOXBORO, Mass. – The old maxim is that defense wins championships. On Tuesday night, Foxboro proved that at least some of the time that maxim is accurate.

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The Warriors held Old Rochester to just 11 points in the first half and didn’t allow more than eight points in a single quarter, overcoming a rough night on the offensive end of the floor and winning 34-26 to take home the title in the annual Warrior Classic.

“We limited a very good team to 11 points in the first half, so I think our defense did what we needed to do,” said Foxboro coach Lisa Downs. “We knew they like a physical, frantic game, so we just tried to not match them but create a different kind of chaos with our defense.”

In a rematch of last year’s tournament final, the two teams ramped up the defensive pressure right from the opening whistle and forced both offenses to play faster than they would have liked. The result was a tight, physical game with very few cleanly run sets.

Foxboro got off to a solid start, as Lizzy Davis (12 points and four steals) drilled a three and Katelyn Mollica (eight points) got to the rim for a basket and a 6-0 lead. After Meghan Horan (game-high 14 points) got ORR on the board, Mollica knocked down a pull-up jumper to make it 8-2.

Horan got another basket off a steal, but Davis took a pair of charges in the quarter and the Warriors made everything difficult to lead 8-4 after one.

Shakirah Ketant (six points and 10 rebounds) got the second started with a rebound and put-back, but a three-point play from Mary Butler (eight points and 11 rebounds) cut the lead down to just one.

Jordyn Collins kept a possession alive with an offensive rebound that led to an Abby Hassman jumper and then Hassman kicked it out for a Davis three, as the Warriors extended the lead to 17-11 at the break.

Foxboro’s offense started to show signs of life in the third to open some separation between the sides. The Warriors scored 11 in the third, which was the only quarter in which either team managed double digits. Yara Fawaz hit a runner to make it 21-13 and Davis followed with her third three of the night to push the lead to 11. Hassman (four assists) set up Fawaz for a basket, as Foxboro grabbed its largest lead of the night, 26-13.

A Hassman steal led to a Mollica transition basket, but ORR got the final points of the quarter. Foxboro headed into the fourth leading 28-18.

“They were taking away, doubling a lot, and their switching didn’t play into what we like to do offensively,” Downs explained, “but we did what we needed to do get done. To beat a quality team like that, I’m happy with it.”

It felt like the Warriors were heading to a comfortable win, but the Bulldogs wouldn’t go away. Butler got a layup. Horan got a free throw and then a steal that she turned into a basket on the other end and Cadence Johnson scored in the paint to cut the Foxboro lead to just 30-25

Fawaz (six points and six rebounds) had Foxboro’s only basket to that point in the fourth, but Davis was able to break down the ORR defense, drive into the lane, and kick out for an open Mollica jumper that made it a seven-point game. Ketant added a pair of free throws late to seal the win.

Despite only scoring six points in the final quarter, Foxboro walked off the court with the Warrior Classic title and the experience of the type of games that are bound to come in the Div. 2 playoffs.

“As long as we show up on defense, good things are going to happen,” said Downs, “but we’ve got to get our fast break moving a little bit more. When you have the open court and move without the ball, that’s when good things happen. Every time we made that extra pass, we had some open shots.”

Foxboro (19-2) expects to be one of the top seed in the Div. 2 South bracket when the tournament pairings are announced this week.

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