3 March, 2015
On Monday night the Marlborough Panthers eliminated the Hopkinton Hillers, winning in the Central Division 2 semi-finals at Worcester Polytechnic Institute 55-40. The Hillers made a remarkable comeback and got within two points in the 4th quarter after trailing most of the game but the Hillers offense went cold in the closing minutes. The Hillers could not get anything going in the first quarter as Marlborough hit 5 times from 3-point land and outscored Hopkinton 18-5 in the first quarter. Marlborough Junior Brian Short hit for three 3-point field goals while Sophomore Owen Cappadona (12 Points) hit for two 3-point field goals.
The Hillers offense picked up a bit in the 2nd quarter but the Marlborough Panthers outscored the Hillers 14-11 in the quarter to hold a 32-16 lead at the half. The Hillers gave up several turnovers on errant passes and ball control problems hurt offensive momentum for Hopkinton. The Hillers made some well-needed adjustments heading into the 2nd half and forced Marlborough to drive inside. The Panthers offense went ice cold as Hopkinton got back in the game outscoring Marlborough 12-5 in the 3rd.
In the 4th quarter, the Hillers continued to build on what ended up a 17-0 run and got within 2 points at 6:39 remaining in the quarter. Unfortunately for the Hillers, Marlborough countered with a 10-0 run of their own. The Panthers increased their lead back to 11 with a Chris Doherty (12 Points) slam followed by a Brian Short (18 Points) 3-pointer. The Panthers never looked back and ended up outscoring Hopkinton 18-12 in the 4th quarter to earn the 55-40 point victory. The Marlborough Panthers earned an 11am game Saturday against Concord-Carlisle for the Central Division 2 championship. Junior Matt Locke scored a team high 11 points for the Hillers while Panthers Junior Brian Short was the high scorer putting up 18 points.
The Hopkinton Hillers went into the playoffs strong winning 3 of their last 4 regular season games to earn the 5th seed and put together a terrific turnaround. The Hopkinton Hillers should be well experienced next season with key players Matt Locke, Austin Odell, Nic Canal and Jake Doherty all returning. Congratulations to Coach Tom Keane and the Hillers players on a tremendous run and best of luck to Coach Bryan Riley and the Marlborough Panthers in the Championship game.
