The Hillers improve to 12 and 4 (5-2 in TVL-L), Westwood falls to 6 and 11 (4-3 in TVL-L).
Hopkinton Girls Varsity Basketball celebrated senior night prior to their TVL Large matchup with the Westwood Wolverines. The Hillers looked to pick up a big division win after dropping 2 of their last 3 versus league rivals and Westwood looked to pull off an upset and spoil Hopkinton’s senior night.
The game was a back and forth momentum-shifting battle through the first three quarters. In the 1st quarter, Westwood outscored Hopkinton 15-13. A surge in the final seconds allowed the Hillers to head into the 2nd quarter just trailing by two points. Teagan Resteghini (SR) took the pass from Abbie Rabinovich (SO) and drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Hillers a big-boost heading into the 2nd quarter.
The Hiller offense opened up in the 2nd and they drew several turnovers with an aggressive in-your-face press and quick-moving unpredictable trap defense. Resteghini continued her momentum, dropping a team-leading 6 points in the 2nd quarter. The Hillers outscored Westwood 16 to 11 and led 29-26 into the halftime break. Several first-half points from Sofiah Wightman Kraus (SR) also helped the Hillers have the edge heading into the break.
In the 3rd quarter, early Westwood foul trouble gave the Hillers several opportunities from the free-throw line. Hopkinton continued to create turnovers and got 5 points each from Teagan Resteghini and Abbie Rabinovich. Sofiah Wightman Kraus also contributed 4 points. The Hillers continued their low post dominance and their overwhelming defensive style continued to lead to turnovers and perplex the Westwood offense. The Hillers outscored the Wolverines 14 to 12 in the 3rd and led 43-38 into the 4th quarter.
Despite the Hillers creating turnovers, Westwood continued to hang around into the 4th quarter and kept the game close enough for a comeback attempt but Hopkinton Junior Julia Chatten spoiled those plans. Chatten had just 4 points into the 4th quarter but put on a show netting four 2-point field goals and helped overwhelm the Westwood offense helping create multiple turnovers. Abbie Rabinovich seemed to win almost all of the low-post rebound battles in the quarter to help give the playoff bound Hillers their 12th win of the season.
Hopkinton next travels to Ashland on Tuesday, Feb 10th for a 6pm tipoff, Westwood will be at Dedham next Tuesday for a scheduled 5:30pm tip.
View game scorebook and scenes below!
