SPRINGFIELD — Shannon Reno was emotional after the Millbury High girls’ basketball team lost to defending state champion Hoosac Valley, 42-38, in the Division 3 state semifinals Tuesday night at Western New England University.
The senior point guard knew that not only did her high school basketball career come to an end, but that she had played her final game for her father, Woolies coach Steve Reno, and her last game with her twin sister, Kelsey.
“That’s the worst part of this whole thing,” she said. “We had such a good season. We won districts for crying out loud. We did what we wanted to do, but we ended it like this. That’s what hurts the most — that I won’t be playing for my dad anymore, I won’t be playing with my sister anymore. It’s just hard. I’ve been doing it my entire life.”
With Shannon Reno starting at point guard, Millbury finished 21-3 this season and 82-8 over the past four years. The Woolies had won 17 in a row.
“I’m very proud,” Coach Reno said. “It’s a team that’s been an absolute pleasure to coach. We’ve got a lot of really good players coming back so the future is bright.”
Hoosac Valley (18-6) advanced to the state final on Saturday at the DCU Center or Worcester State University against either St. Mary’s of Lynn or Rockland, which will play each other in the other semifinal at 2 p.m. Wednesday at TD Garden.
The Hurricanes out of the Northern Berkshire County town of Cheshire defeated St. Mary’s in the state final last year.
Junior Cameron Wilbur paced Millbury with 10 points. Senior Morgan Cronan and freshman Alanna Phillipo each had 7. Shannon Reno scored 6, all in the first half. Kelsey Reno scored 5.
Averie McGrath led Hoosac Valley with 13 points. Riley Robinson had 8.
Millbury defeated Hoosac Valley, 45-28, in the Hoophall Classic at Springfield College on Jan. 17, and the Woolies looked to continue their hold on the Hurricanes on Tuesday after they sank three 3-pointers while jumping out to a 22-10 lead with 6:24 left in the second quarter. But Millbury didn’t sink another trey and scored just 16 points over the final 22:24.
“We struggled making shots,” Shannon Reno said. “I think it’s just that simple. We struggled making shots, we struggled making layups, we struggled making free throws and we honestly struggled to push the ball and get good shots. Even the good shots we got, we weren’t making them.”
After a slow start, the Hurricanes concentrated on taking away Millbury’s 3-point shots.
“You can’t give them open looks,” said Hoosac Valley coach Ron Wojcik, who played basketball for WPI in the early 1980s. “You’ve got to pressure them, make them put the ball on the floor, make them beat us either on the drive or inside. I thought after the first quarter we started doing that.”
The Hurricanes overcome a nine-point deficit to beat Granby in the quarterfinals of the Western Mass. Tournament, so they weren’t rattled when they fell behind Millbury.
McGrath’s 3-pointer with 53 seconds left in the third quarter gave Hoosac its first lead, 30-29. After Wilbur’s jumper regained the lead for Millbury, Robinson’s jumper with 6:13 put Hoosac back on top for good, 34-33.
Millbury shot free throws well in the Central Mass. title game against Millis, but was only 5 of 12 at the line on Tuesday, while Hoosac shot 18 of 22.
Shannon Reno played in foul trouble after picking up her third foul early in the second half. She came off the bench with 3:07 left in the third quarter and was called for a charging foul 10 seconds later while driving to the basket and returned to the bench.
“I wanted to go into the game,” she said, “and get something rolling. So I thought maybe if I drove to the hoop, I’d get a foul, make a layup, just keep pushing the ball, but clearly it didn’t work out that way.”
She played the entire final quarter, but didn’t score. She admitted she couldn’t play as aggressively as she wanted.
Down 41-38, Millbury had a chance to force overtime by sinking a 3-pointer in the closing seconds. Shannon Reno missed two attempts and Kelsey Reno had her try blocked.
“I think I just rushed them,” Shannon Reno said. “I got too pumped, two excited. Kind of didn’t really complete my form a little bit.”
Sarah Field clinched the win for Hoosac by sinking a foul shot with two seconds left.
“I’m really proud of my team,” Shannon Reno said, “and how we pushed and tried to stay in the game and did everything we could to try to win that game. Unfortunately, it didn’t happen, but we did our best.”
