VIDEO: Oliver Ames girls basketball moves on to Division 2 Final Four
The Tigers advanced to the Division 2 Final Four with a gritty 33-32 win over Whitman-Hanson on Friday.
TAUNTON — Coming in, the Oliver Ames High girls basketball team knew it’d have to shift the game plan.
Monday night’s Final Four matchup against Medfield was bound to have a different feel than the No. 5 Tigers’ gritty, defensive-minded win over No. 13 Whitman-Hanson in the previous round. The top-seeded Warriors routinely score in the high 60’s or 70’s and, twice this year, the 80’s.
Much thanks to Izzy Kittredge and Tess Baacke.
Although Oliver Ames held the Medfield team under its tournament average (65), the combined effort of the Warriors’ two sophomore standouts ended the Tigers’ postseason run one game shy of the Division 2 state final with a 60-46 defeat at Taunton High on Monday.
“We probably made too many mistakes early. Defensively, we knew we were going to give up more than we’ve been giving up in the earlier rounds,” OA head coach Brian Costello said. “It wasn’t realistic to come in here and play in the 30’s. I thought defensively at times, we had good little spurts there, but they’re just so good.”
No. 1 Medfield (22-2) will play in the winner of No. 6 South High (22-1) and No. 7 Northampton (19-3) in the championship at Tsongas Center on the campus of UMass Lowell (date/time TBD).
Oliver Ames finishes its season with a 17-7 record with another Final Four appearance since winning the state title in 2022, this one comes in the first go-around under Costello and not the legendary Laney Clement-Holbrook.
Monday night, Medfield jumped out to a 9-1 start before senior center Sarah Hilliard recorded the Tigers’ first field goal on an and-one layup minutes into play. Hilliard scored seven of the team’s eight first-quarter points as Medfield commanded a 15-8 lead after one.
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“I thought we got good looks offensively, and some nights they just don’t fall,” Costello said. “I did think we scored the ball better tonight than we’ve been scoring it in the tournament, definitely, but against a team that good, you’ve got to be on point with everything.”
But after sophomore Kamryn Derba (14 points) hit a straight-on 3-pointer early on the Tigers’ first possession out of the halftime break, Kittredge (21 points) and Naya Annigeri (8 points) were quick to respond with consecutive long-distance hits of their own to spur an OA timeout approximately 90 seconds into the third quarter as the Tigers trailed by 17.
The Medfield lead pumped up to 21 later in the second half, with Baacke chiming in with 13 points and seven rebounds.
When Costello subbed out his senior class with one minute to play, the first-year head coach shared a warm embrace with his captains — Hilliard and Kaydance Derba, older sister of Kamryn. A decision not to continue their careers into the college ranks halts Hilliard’s with 15 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks in the loss and Derba’s with 8 points, and two 3-pointers. Hilliard will go on to play collegiate volleyball at Bucknell University next year.
“In my first year, to be embraced by them the way I was, it’s one of those things I can never repay the two of them,” Costello said. “They’ll obviously be sorely missed as players but, as people, they’ll be missed even more.”
The senior duo agreed postgame that they didn’t feel pressure knowing it could potentially be their final games, as the No. 5 Tigers didn’t shoulder the must-win burden of No. 1 seed Medfield, the bracket’s prohibitive favorite.
“Our main focus was to leave it all out there,” Hilliard said. “We had nothing to lose.”
“Coming to the Final Four with Sarah, playing with her since third grade, I couldn’t have asked for any other game,” Derba said. “I’m so happy with how everything worked out.”
Oliver Ames played in three clutch-time games this postseason prior to Monday’s final four: a 43-40 win over No. 28 Silver Lake in the Round of 32, 55-51 win over No. 12 Minnechaug in the Sweet Sixteen and 33-32 over No. 13 Whitman-Hanson to earn a spot in Monday’s matchup.
“I’m super proud of the girls,” Costello said. “The run was fantastic. The effort, the mindset they had was great. … We kept battling.”
Though the Tigers will graduate Hilliard, Kaydance Derba, Annie Reilly and Katherine Farley heading into next year, the team will retain three starters in sophomores Kamryn Derba, Avery Gamble and Maeve Horsman along with key reserves Mari Rhodes, a sophomore point guard, and Hannah Dupill, a junior wing.
“There’s a lot of talent, and more importantly, there’s a lot of desire to be great. That’s the key,” Costello said. “I’m excited about this year, but super excited about next year, as well.”
