The biggest challenge of the season awaits Turners Falls High School this evening.
The Powertown will play at the Curry Hicks Cage on the campus of UMass/Amherst for the second time in three years tonight at 8, when fourth-seeded Turners (14-8) tangles with top-seeded and two-time defending western Massachusetts champion Hopkins Academy (19-2) in the semifinals of the WMass Division IV Boys’ Basketball Tournament.
The blue and white certainly has its hands full against a Hawks team that has its eyes set firmly on a WMass title run — and beyond. Hopkins not only has the experience edge playing at the Cage the past few seasons, but the building itself is nestled just down the road from its Route 9 campus in Hadley.
“There’s no question that their goal is to be state champions this year and that’s a great goal to have,” said Turners head coach Gary Mullins of Hopkins. “They have experienced talent, all the marbles. It’s certainly a tough assignment, but you have to beat tough teams to win a title. You can’t avoid doing that.”
Turners enters the semifinal on a four-game winning streak, and all four victories came via double-digits. That includes a 73-63 win over No. 5 Murdock High School in the D-IV quarterfinal last week in a game that took contributions from the entire roster to survive and advance.
“I think we both gained some confidence in each other as coach and player,” offered Mullins of the quarterfinal victory. “I think they’re ready to play but again, that guarantees you nothing. But if we go out and play hard and do the best we can, we’ll never lose and I firmly believe that. If we give our best effort and leave it all out there, you don’t lose regardless of the final score.”
The two teams met twice during the regular season, with Hopkins sweeping. The tighter of the two matchups came on Feb. 1, when Turners actually held a 34-24 halftime lead but ultimately fell, 71-54. In the rematch on Feb. 13, the Powertown stayed within 40-30 at halftime before the Hawks pulled away for a lopsided 93-56 win.
“We’ve played them tough for a few quarters but they’ve ended up popping us later in the game,” Mullins recalled. “We have to prevent that big run. If we do, we have a chance and that’s all you’re looking for.”
Hopkins is led by senior all-everything Sam’i Roe, a favorite to capture the Lahovich Award given to the best player in WMass. The senior, who averages 26.5 points per game, dropped 46 when the two teams met on Feb. 13, and his ability to beat opponents both inside and outside makes for a very tricky matchup. In particular, Roe made a nice living on the glass in that game, scoring numerous second-chance points against Turners.
“I think our kids realize there were times they allowed Hopkins to get offensive rebounds last time,” Mullins said. “Sam’i had five or six putbacks in the game we played over there. It wasn’t the first shot that beat us a lot, it was the second. We have to find a way to make sure that doesn’t happens. He’s a talented kid, the best player in our league, so you can’t afford to give him all sorts of chances.”
While Roe snags the bulk of the headlines, Hopkins is far from a one-man show. Surrounding him are a pair of big-time scorers in John Earle (17.9 points per game) and Jon Morrison (13.1 ppg), and all three are capable of scoring 20-plus points on the same night. Earle’s outside shooting gives Hopkins a different dimension, while Morrison has plenty of size and should make things difficult for a smaller Turners lineup. The trio all played key roles in beating Turners back in 2015. Justin Ciaglo and Nate Kelley are other Hopkins players to watch for tonight.
“(Roe) may be the jelly in the sandwich but there’s plenty of bread to go around there,” lauded Mullins of Hopkins. “Earle is a terrific little player and Morrison is a big kid who has been very successful against a small team like us. They aren’t a one-pony show.”
Despite playing there just two years ago (a 68-46 loss to Hopkins in the 2015 semis), the Cage environment will be new to the vast majority of the Turners lineup. Seniors Tionne Brown and Nick Croteau are the only starters on this year’s team who played in that game, meaning the look and feel of the building and court will take an acclimation period.
“Honeslty I don’t think you can really replicate the experience of playing there until you’re actually there,” Mullins said of the Cage, where the UMass basketball team played until moving into the Mullins Center in 1993. “The biggest concern when I’ve had teams go to the Cage is there’s a depth perception problem shooting the ball from the outside. It’s a very different look. Most high school gyms, the wall is much, much closer. I can recall a few of my shooters throwing up some empty balls over the years. Hopkins has played there a couple of times so they have an advantage in that regard but I don’t think you can really prep for that aspect until you’re there.”
In order to be successful, Turners will undoubtedly have to avoid foul trouble that plagued several key players in the quarterfinal win over Murdock. Keeping starters on the floor, mixed with better rebounding and ball protection should at least give the Powertown a solid foundation for success en route to potentially pulling off the upset.
“There’s no major changes to be made just some little subtleties that we didn’t do well against them the last two times,” Mullins explained. “We should be able to deal with their pressure without a lot of mistakes but when you put them at UMass, and the excitement that comes from that environment, sometimes one bad pass can change things completely. I think if we can be mentally tough, and realize we can play with these guys and not take plays off, we’ve got a shot.”
Brown leads Turners with 12.4 points per game this winter, while Tyler Lavin (8.2 ppg), Anthony Peterson (7.2), Kyle Bergmann (6.8) and Nick Croteau (5.9) were the other starters in the team’s quarterfinal win.
Tonight’s game is the nightcap of a tripleheader at the Cage that begins at 5 with Lee High School and Monson in the girls’ D-IV semifinals and continues at 6:30 with a D-II girls’ semifinal between Longmeadow High School and Pittsfield High School.