In Div. 5 final, Hopedale boys hoop readies for Pioneer Valley team that averages 70 ppg
HOPEDALE – A big game happens at noon. By evening, the school will put on the day’s second presentation of Grease.
For the boys basketball team, the championship trophy is the one that they want. (Ooh, ooh, ooh).
Hopedale plays in its first title game in 25 years on Saturday (12 p.m. at Lowell’s Tsongas Center) against one of the two remaining unbeaten teams in the state – boys or girls: Pioneer Valley Regional, which has put up impressive numbers. (Norwell’s boys are also undefeated).
To go with a 25-0 record, the Panthers averaged 70.6 points during the regular season, amassed 93 in their season opener, won games by 73 and 50 points and have two 1,000-point scorers: Brayden Thayer and Kurt Redeker.
Top-seeded Pioneer has piled up its wins and points from a distance – and not just the 3-point variety. The Northfield school’s farthest trip east was Jan. 6 at Mahar Regional in Orange. The No. 2 Blue Raiders (22-2) will look to combat a high-flying transition offense by hustling back on defense.
And by playing what senior Danny Carroll described as “Hopedale basketball.”
Asked to elaborate, the forward said: “If I could point to one thing, I’d call it effort areas. Hustle for rebounds; be physical on defense. Hard effort and teamwork.”
Pioneer’s semifinal opponent, Drury, held the Panthers to their lowest point total (49) of the season, though they still won by 26 points.
Hopedale coach Tony Cordani said he’s “probably watched five (of Pioneer’s) games” and concluded that “a lot of Pioneer’s points come in transition. In the half-court, they’re a little more deliberate. When they get a turnover or a rebound, they like to push it. They score a lot in transition.”
The antidote goes back to Carroll’s description: hard effort.
“This is definitely going to be a team that we’re gonna want to get back and make them play us slow and methodical,” said Hopedale captain and leading scorer Patrick Madden.
The Blue Raiders did win their first two playoff games by an average of 39 points, but the previous two were one-possession games in the final minute, including Tuesday’s victory over Westport thanks to Madden’s running banker with 3.6 seconds left.
Pioneer has had just two games all season decided by less than 10 points.
“I don’t think they’ve been battle-tested yet,” Hopedale senior Brayden Lewis said. “We’ve had a tougher schedule. It’s going to be a good game.”
Liberatore reflects from sidelines five years after COVID
The last time Hopedale advanced to this stage, the Raiders did not get the chance to play in the Division 4 title game because COVID wiped out all sports earlier that week. A venue hadn’t even been selected and Hopedale was later crowned a co-state champion along with Abington.
Dan Liberatore, currently in his first season as a Hopedale assistant coach after playing at Worcester State, was on that 2020 team. He scored 23 points in the state semis against Drury (Sam Morelli had 25) and 26 a week earlier when the Blue Raiders won Central title.
Liberatore said during Thursday’s practice that he has few regrets about not playing for the state championship.
“I try to just take it for what it was. At the time I remember having mixed feelings. But now, there’s nothing we could have ever done about it,” he said. “We went as far as we could, so that’s all that really mattered. That’s all we could control.”
Blue Raiders ‘proud’ to play share Draper court with Bill Russell
Friday’s practice is the final one for Hopedale’s seniors at historic Draper Gym, built 70 years ago and unique in that the building is not part of the high school but a short walk down Dutcher Street. The team’s Final Four trophy from Tuesday is proudly displayed in the lobby and Cordani was seen Thursday standing atop a stool in the locker room to hang a towel at a west-facing window to block out the afternoon sun. No shades here, and a film session was planned.
A year after the building opened, the Boston Celtics played here in 1956. Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman. A year later, they came back and a certain No. 6 jumped center that night.
“Bill Russell’s still the best player to play here,” Cordani said, thumbing through a scrapbook.
“It hasn’t really hit that I’ve already played my last game here,” Madden said, “but just knowing these are my last practices here, it’s pretty crazy after all these years.”
Justin Lewis, father of Brayden, also played for Hopedale High at Draper.
“I’ve played here my whole life,” Brayden Lewis said. “I’m just going to miss it a lot.”
“Some legends have stepped foot on this court,” said senior Robbie Manning. “I’m proud to be along with those legends.”
A win Saturday will turn the current group of Blue Raiders into legends. And they don’t even have to race at Thunder Road.
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached attdumas@wickedlocal.com. Follow him on Twitter @TimDumas.
This article originally appeared on MetroWest Daily News: Hopedale boys basketball faces high-scoring Pioneer Valley in title game
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