The South Hadley Tigers hounded Southwick all night. Here, Rams’ Mackenzie Sullivan, left, tries to protect the ball. (Photo by Frederick Gore)
SOUTH HADLEY – The Southwick-Tolland Regional High School girls’ basketball team ran into a hungry pack of Tigers on the road.
The fourth-seeded South Hadley Tigers protected their home court in Monday night’s Western Massachusetts Division 3 tournament opener, defeating the visiting Southwick Rams, 66-32.
Three players produced double-digit outings for South Hadley (16-5), and another finished one point shy of that mark. Samantha Gawron led the Tigers with 15 points on five 3-pointers, Kelly Pouliot and Sophia Gatzounas each tallied 10 points, and Victoria Mielnikowski had nine.
Jaclyn Maziarz scored a team-high 11 points for No. 13 Southwick (14-7), all in the second quarter.
After both teams settled in, South Hadley went on a 14-0 run to end the opening quarter and establish a 20-6 lead. Gawron fueled the attack with two 3-pointers.
Southwick chipped away at the South Hadley lead early in the second quarter.
Maziarz drained three 3s, and Ashley Shea knocked down one from beyond the arc to pull Southwick within six, 22-16.
South Hadley responded with the long ball, draining three in the final three minutes. Gawron hit two and Kara Callahan made one. The Tigers’ lead quickly ballooned to 36-22.
In the third quarter, four different South Hadley players – Pouliot, Gawron, Gatzounas, and Alexis Gawron – connected on 3-point shots to help the Tigers pull away.
“They’re a really well-balanced team,” Southwick assistant coach Rick Harriman said of the opposition. “They showed us how to hit three-pointers.”
South Hadley went on to make a total of nine 3s.
“They’re hard to defend when you have to stretch your defense that far,” Harriman said. “Our girls competed into the third quarter, but the lead got too far.”
Southwick’s Morgan Harriman nailed a 3 and converted a quick dribble-drive in the fourth quarter.
“It was a good season,” coach Harriman said. “We have a young team. We’re looking to take the next step next year.”
Southwick graduates just one senior, Tara Dowd, this spring.
