Newport
Newport, coming off a 10-8 season, was at a height disadvantage and didn’t help itself by having an off-target shooting night, including a 3-for-13 performance from the foul line.
“Foul shooting was the key,” Newport’s Selena Coronis said. “And we could have had better luck shooting from the floor.”
From the 3:04 mark of the first period to 5:45 of the second, the Tigers did not score a point.
What also bothered the Tigers was the Hopkinton height advantage, paced by the 13-point effort from 5-foot-11 junior Katie Meserve, who had four putback hoops.
Perhaps what bothered Newport coach Ross Dole the most was the way his team handled pressure situations.
“They took the ball right out of our hands,” he said.
After Newport took a 6-3 lead in the first quarter, the Hawks scratched out a 7-6 lead by the buzzer. They then exploded for a 22-point second period to run out to a 29-13 lead at the break.
“It’s not that we weren’t working hard, but we were working too hard individually,” Dole explained. “We needed to work as a team and we dug ourselves a hole. On top of that, we had some people in foul trouble and failed to take advantage of some opportunities.”
Still, it was that second period that paved the way as the Hawks made their free throws and Newport missed. Hopkinton’s control of the boards allowed the visitors to take charge of the game.
“You know what was also a key for us was our bench,” Hopkinton coach Pat Roye said. “Our depth was a factor.”
Roye also added that he thought Dole was getting a lot out of his players and “that Selena Coronis is hard for us to handle.”
Newport had a couple of spells in the second half when it tried to put a run together and get back in the game. The third period started with sophomore Eliza Bates getting two quick hoops followed shortly by a Coronis basket. However, back came the Hawks with three straight under-the-basket buckets for an eventual 40-26 lead after three periods. Newport offered one final spark of the life to start the fourth quarter as Morgan Roberts and Alyssa Burr nailed baskets for the Tigers, but the Hawks answered back and were never threatened.
“We’re young in spots and still trying to figure some things out,” said Dole. “We’ll keep working at it.”
Bates was the leading score for the Tigers with nine points. Greysan Beaulieau had a pair of three-pointers as well.
In addition to the 13 points for Meserve, Hopkinton got 11 from Amelia Thomas and 10 from Maurgan McGrath.
Mascoma comes to Newport on Tuesday.