From a game-opening dunk to a crushing loss, the Hopkinton Hawks’ season was much more than just the game that got away.
The Division III boys basketball semifinal was a rollercoaster of emotions for third-seeded Hopkinton (17-3) on Tuesday. The No. 2 Mascoma Royals erased a 12-point deficit and roared back to win it 49-41.
To begin the game, Hawks junior Ben Normand stole the ball and took it the other way on a fast break for a dunk. That set the tone.
What he and the rest of the team didn’t expect was that the Royals and their fierce fans would be able to match that energy throughout.
“After a lot of success, 17 and two, we really thought we were the best. I still think we are the best,” Normand said after the game. “We just weren’t hitting our shots.”
After a 7-10 finish last season, the jump in quality was noticeable. Normand, alongside seniors Kristof Cauley and Kyle Buelte, led this Hawks team to new heights.
Head Coach Liam McNicholas said they made his job easy. He had this group when they were freshmen and he was coaching junior varsity.
He said they had a different drive this year, showing up early, watching film and shooting around. Buelte especially took over a vocal leadership role, while Normand and Cauley led by example on the court.
“Seeing the young men they’ve become from 14-year-old boys, they’re really incredible kids,” McNicholas said. “They’re obviously great basketball players, but that’s secondary.”
In the game, their will to push for the win was there, but Mascoma’s experience also showed. The Royals were a team full of players who watched their older peers win a championship in 2023 but had been to the last two final fours and lost.
Mascoma Head Coach Silas Ayres explained that they knew it was a 32-minute game.
Seniors Bryce Ballou, Connor Hemmerling, Declan Lyons and Brayden Pierce all scored during a 20-8 run in the third quarter to go ahead, 37-36.
“We’ve seen that before, and I think that experience, really, the nerves weren’t quite as bad,” Ayres said.
Ballou and Pierce combined for 35 points total and brought the Royals over the top in the end. Senior center Colin Myers also had a big impact on defense down the stretch.
Hopkinton’s Normand said he hopes the younger guys learn to never hang their heads. After the lackluster finish to last season, the Hawks turned it around.
McNicholas knows he will learn from it, timeout decisions, rotations, and much more.
“They had been here before, their coach had been here before, and I think that gave them an advantage over me and our own inexperience,” he said.