D-S Boys Basketball Lose To TVL Co-Champ Hopkinton, 57-39

Game Notes

-With the win over D-S on Friday night, Hopkinton won a share of the Tri-Valley League title with Medway. They finished the regular season with a record of 17-2.

-On Thursday, the Tri-Valley League named D-S head coach Rick Grady Coach of the Year. Both Dover-Sherborn and Hopkinton were given awards for sportsmanship by the TVL.

-Hopkinton senior Wesley Erickson led all scorers with 17 points on the night. Junior forward Jason Dlugolecki added 15 points and senior Jake Doucette chipped in 10 points for the Hillers.

-Junior center Oliver Kelley led the Raiders with 10 points in the game. Nate Jenkins continued his outstanding outside shooting, hitting three 3-pointers against Hopkinton finishing with 9 points.

-Hopkinton’s defense held D-S to only six points in the second quarter.

-“In the second half we just turned the ball over too much and you can’t let a great team like Hopkinton get extra possessions. They feed off of that stuff. They’re an excellent transition team and if you’re coughing up the ball, like we did in the second half, your giving them easy points,” Grady said.

-“We can take away some good things. I think in the first half we played good half-court defense, we kept guys in front of us,” Grady said. “I don’t think we learned anything we didn’t already know to be honest with you. We know what you need to do to win games, especially in the tournament.”

-“It was a good test for us and they’re the type of team we’re going to be facing in a couple weeks,” said Grady.

-The Raiders struggled throughout the game with Hopkinton’s full-court press. The Hillers would often double-team whoever had the ball, which led to bad passes and turnovers for D-S and easy buckets near their own hoop for Hopkinton.

-The Raiders led by seven after the first quarter, and in the second quarter Dlugolecki scored eight of the Hillers 18 points in the quarter to get them back into the game. “He absolutely picked up the slack scoring,” said Hopkinton head coach Tom Keane. “The thing about the start of the game was, I think we were kind of nervous about the whole TVL Championship and I think that we played a little bit flat on defense.”

-Hopkinton’s gym was packed to the brim to celebrate Senior Night.

-The Raiders finished the regular season with an 11-9 record and a birth in the postseason tournament. Last season they had two wins.