LOWELL — All season long, Hoosac Valley head coach Jon Frederick has talked about how his team seems to always have a down quarter.

 

So perhaps it was only natural that the top ranked Hurricanes gave up a 21-1 run that spanned 6 minutes and 17 seconds of game time, and lasted from late in the first quarter to the middle of the second.

 

And then, also in classic Hoosac fashion, it found its gear. A big response had the Hurricanes down one at halftime. Then, starting the third quarter with authority, they outscored No. 2 West Boylston by 17 points to put the game well out of reach by the time the final frame began.

 

Even before the final buzzer sounded at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Hoosac was celebrating its 71-53 win. The Hurricanes were crowned MIAA Division V State Champions. Their second outright title in five years, and first in the new system.

 

“It feels great, I’ve been playing with this group of seniors since fourth grade. This was our dream,” said Abby Scialabba with a grin. “We’re so excited and we’re just so happy we got to do it together.”

 

“It feels amazing,” added an also smiling Ashlyn Lesure. “It feels absolutely amazing, this was our goal at the beginning of the year, first practice. We came together and decided what our goal was at the end of the year and we succeeded at it.”

 

Taylor Garabedian kept Hoosac in the game in the first half. Hoosac trailed 32-31 at the break and the senior had scored 17 of her team’s points. In the second half, the Lions were determined to make someone else beat them. A good plan, but unfortunately for West Boylston, Scialabba and Lesure answered the call.

 

“'I need you to go drive, they’re double-teaming Taylor,'” Scialabba recalled what head coach Jon Frederick told her at halftime. “So I started driving.”

 

“I don't think we were nervous, we just weren’t executing and really pushing the pace on them,” added Frederick. “All we ask for is 32 minutes and I think we got 24. But 24 is enough when these girls go out and they all play together.”

 

Scialabba exploded for 11 points in the third quarter. Starting with a converted And-1 off an Emma Meczywor steal, and then a catch-and-shoot 3 from college range thanks to a feed from Lesure.

 

That spearheaded a monstrous stretch for the Hurricanes, who outscored West Boylston 22-5 to take a 53-38 lead into the fourth quarter. All told, in 13:40 of game time, Hoosac went from down 13 to up by 15 points.

 

“We were a little freaked out, had a lot of nervous jitters. After halftime we just kinda pulled it all together,” said Scialabba. “We’re just gonna run ‘em out of this gym. This is our game.”

 

“We’ve faced a few hard games and we do a good job pushing the pace and staying with it. Not putting our head down,” agreed Garabedian. “We’ve been here before and we know how to overcome it.”

 

Both teams started slow in the fourth quarter, but while Hoosac’s offense was a little sluggish, its defense held strong. A couple 3-pointers from Sammie Mullins bolstered the Lions, but otherwise Hoosac locked down the interior.

 

And as the Hurricanes kept attacking inside, they got to the line more and more. Lesure was 6 for 8 from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, while Garabedian had two nice drives inside. Scialabba converted yet another And-1 and Hoosac kept a double-digit lead throughout the fourth.

 

“Abby came in a little bit under the weather. She had a little bit of a fever [Friday]. She started to get her confidence in the Renaissance game,” Frederick said. “Something that she really hasn’t had all year, I think she puts a big burden on her back… She’s great off the dribble.

 

“We told her, ‘You can attack… This is your game.’”

 

Garabedian led all scorers with 22 points and added seven rebounds (five offensive), three assists and a steal.

 

Lesure had a double-double of 16 points and 10 rebounds as well as two steals and two assists.

 

Scialabba scored 16 and added six boards and a steal. Meczywor scored five and grabbed seven rebounds and a steal, while Hanna Shea scored four and had five rebounds and two steals. The Hoosac bench also stepped up big, with Haley McNeice and Maryn Cappiello knocking down a 3-ball each and Cappiello taking two charges.

 

“They’re not afraid to let [each other] take minutes… Emma got into foul trouble, she came to the bench, wasn’t too happy. We put in Maryn and she stepped up huge today with the two charges,” said Frederick. “They know, they can all play.”

 

Frederick is in his second season as Hoosac skipper. His first year included a Western Mass. title and a trip to the state semifinals. He’s been a part of the basketball circuit in Adams-Cheshire for well over a decade now, and he’s coached many of the players on his team since they were in third grade.

 

He first got involved because his daughter, Kailynne Frederick who’s now his assistant, was a player for the Hoosac teams that went to four straight state finals and lost each one back in the old D-III days.

 

“I couldn’t be prouder of all of them… To come up here, to share this experience with my daughter who went to four finals and never got this one,” said Jon Frederick with a smile. “It’s great for her to get the championship necklace.

 

“It’s been a great ride, it’s been fantastic.”

 

Winning is hard, and winning a championship is about as hard as it gets. This crop of seniors, Garabedian, Scialabba, McNeice and Shea, three-peated as PVIAC Western Mass. Class D Champions. But they lost in the D-V Final to Hopedale in 2022, the first year of the new statewide tournament.

 

But now, in the final game of their high school careers, not only did they win, but they got to go out as champions on the same floor in Lowell.

 

“Two years ago, we came here and got second, it sucks, being the losing team. We really wanted to win. And we got it done. We’ve been playing together for so long,” said Garabedian, smiling through happy tears. “It really sucks having to leave them.

 

“But it’s awesome to be able to finish off with a win.”

 

WEST BOYLSTON (53)

M. Pitro 8-6-23, Mullins 5-0-14, E. Pitro 2-1-5, Kursonis 2-0-4, Luksha 2-0-4, Stone 1-1-3. Totals: 20-8-53.

 

HOOSAC VALLEY (71)

Garabedian 9-4-22, Scialabba 6-3-16, Lesure 3-9-16, McNeice 2-0-5, Meczywor 2-0-5, Shea 2-0-4, Cappiello 1-0-3. Totals: 25-16-71.

 

West Boylston 17 15 6 15 — 53

 

Hoosac 12 19 22 18 — 71

 

3-pointers — WB: 5 (Mullins 4, Pitro 1). HV: 5 (Scialabba, Lesure, Cappiello, Meczywor, McNeice).