GREENFIELD — The mission was simple for the Greenfield girls basketball team: win on Thursday against No. 5 Sabis and advance to the Cage for the third year in the row.
Unfortunately for the No. 4 Green Wave, the Bulldogs had different plans.
Katie Haselton scored 17 points in the first half to put Greenfield up 23-19 at the break, but Sabis made an emphasis to neutralize her in the second half, holding her to two points.
Without Haselton having her way on the offensive end, the Wave struggled to score points while the Bulldogs dominated the glass, resulting in a 44-41 Greenfield loss.
“It’s disappointing,” Green Wave coach John Hickey said. “We had a great opportunity tonight that we let go.”
Greenfield (15-6) extended its lead early in the second half off a bucket by Kristina Reed and a pair of free throws by Racquel Provost put the Wave up 30-23 midway through the third.
The rest of the quarter was dominated by Sabis (13-9). Sauna Charles made a free throw and scored a bucket, followed by a basket at the rim by Rhayanna Shubrick.
Shubrick scored another basket and Sydney Borders added a shot at the rim and suddenly the Bulldogs held a 32-30 lead going into the final eight minutes of action.
All the baskets by Sabis on its 9-0 came off second chance opportunities or on the fast break.
“We didn’t rebound well,” Hickey said. “We didn’t box out well. I don’t think our initial defense was bad, but a couple second chances here and there hurt us.”
With the Bulldogs bullying their way inside, Greenfield couldn’t find ways to put the ball in the hoop.
Sabis’ defense was focused on Haselton, who managed to get to the line for a pair of free throws early in the fourth quarter, but was limited otherwise.
With Haselton limited, the Green Wave went into a rut on offense which ultimately changed the course of the game.
“Offensively, we struggled,” Hickey said. “Their defense pressure was good, it definitely affected our younger players. It wasn’t meant to be, I guess. We kept telling them to keep shooting the ball. Some of the younger kids passed up some opportunities when they probably should have been shooting.”
With 2:45 to go, Greenfield finally got the basket it so desperately needed. Spotting up on the 3-point line, Bryanna Rivera drained a triple, the Wave’s first basket since midway through the third quarter, to cut the Sabis lead to 37-35.
Following a stop on the other end, the Wave pushed the ball up the court and got it in the hands of Rivera, who hit nothing but net for the second shot in a row, putting Greenfield ahead, 38-37, with 2:15 to play.
The Bulldogs had an answer to silent the roaring Green Wave crowd, as eighth-grader Alicia Mitchell grabbed an offensive rebound and put it in while getting fouled, converting the free throw to put Sabis back ahead. Shubrick took it coast-to-coast after a Greenfield miss on the other end to extend the Bulldog lead to 42-38.
There was no quit in the Wave, with Amber Bergeron getting fouled and making a free throw with 1:17 to go. Following a missed free throw by Provost, Reed grabbed the offensive rebound and put it back in to make it 42-41 Bulldogs with 45 seconds to play.
Greenfield got the stops it needed late, but turnovers forced them to play the foul game late, leading to two made free throws by Sabis to put itself up 44-41 with 8.4 seconds to play.
With one last chance to tie it, Haselton put up a contested shot that fell short off the front rim, advancing Sabis on to play Wahconah in the semifinals.
“They played it more like a box-and-one,” Hickey said on how the Bulldogs neutralized Haselton. “They made her work for it. Other people have to step up. It wasn’t the case until Bry hit two 3’s late in the fourth quarter.”
The Green Wave opened up a 12-5 lead after one with 10 points coming from Haselton in the quarter. The junior added in another seven points in the second quarter to put Greenfield up 23-19 at the half.