Westwood Senior Night Spoiled by Hillers

Hopkinton High School's varsity basketball team snuck past Westwood in the closing minutes of Westwood's Senior Night Friday 68-62, thanks to the defensive heroics of senior guard Wesley Ericksen.

In a tie game with three minutes remaining, Ericksen capped off a 12-2 Hiller run with three steals, all of which led to fast-break layups including one of his own. 

Westwood committed 10 turnovers in the fourth quarter and more than half were due to Ericksen’s defensive harassment.

In a game that featured four ties and 11 lead changes, Steve St. Martin’s Wolverines showed a well-rounded effort but fell just short simply due to facing unfamiliar territory.

“We’re not used to situations where we are beating a team that’s first in the league,” St. Martin said. “These are uncomfortable positions and uncharted waters so if you aren’t used to it, you have to experience this difficulty before you can get through it. The pressure they brought was the same for the entire game but we struggled in the last few minutes because of the situation.”

Glenn Parsons and Macston Maccow made up almost a third of the Westwood offense, scoring 14 points apiece and keeping the home team competitive until the latter stages of the game. Steve Jarva provided a spark off the Wolverine bench, connecting three times from behind the arc for nine points.

Hopkinton’s Jason Dlugolecki matched Parsons and Maccow with 14 of his own and was followed by Jake Doucette who finished with 13 and Barrett Hanlon with nine. Doucette also grabbed eight boards and blocked three shots and Keane talked about the battle both teams endured on the glass all night.

Hopkinton, who holds a share of the conference lead at 14-1, has undoubtedly been a tough opponent all season, but the Wolverines (5-11) rose to the occasion in what was their final home game of the year. They held the potent Hiller offense to just six points in the third quarter and erased what was once a 13-point lead by knotting up the score at 44 heading into the final period.

Hopkinton head coach Tom Keane credited the late surge solely to Ericksen, who finished with four points and four steals, all of which came in the second half.

“It was 100 percent due to (Wesley),” said Keane. “You always see guys take over on offense but he took over on the defensive end. He’s so quick and he sees the floor so well and he’s been doing this all year for us but it takes a game like this for him to really get noticed.

"It was a physical game all night and Westwood played with a ton of heart and was great on the boards all night,” Keane added. “There was one point where they had four offensive rebounds in a row and tied up the game, which was a backbreaker for us, but we ended up making some big rebounds down the stretch.”

St. Martin also praised his players after the game on what was truly a special night for his seniors, despite the result.

“You can’t ask for a better group of people and it makes life a lot easier when you don’t have to chase them around and make sure their grades are fine or make sure they aren’t misbehaving outside the classroom,” St. Martin said. “They’ve done everything I’ve asked of them from a leadership standpoints and I just wish they experienced more winning because they deserve it. They work their tails off every day just like they did tonight.”

The Wolverines wrap up their season next week with road games against Dover-Sherborn on Tuesday and Medway on Friday.

Hopkinton meanwhile can earn a share of the division title with home victories over Ashland and Dover-Sherborn, assuming Medway wins out as well.