LOWELL –
Final: Pioneer 49, Hopedale 28
The Panthers win their third state title.
Pioneer 49, Hopedale 28, 2:35
Nate Rutkowski hits the front end of a 1 and 1 for the Blue Raiders.
Pioneer 49, Hopedale 27, 3:47 left
Hopedale's Patrick Madden sinks another couple free throws.
Pioneer 47, Hopedale 25, 4:49 left
Patrick Madden puts in a couple buckets for the Blue Raiders.
End 3Q: Pioneer 42 Hopedale 20
The Panthers can taste it.
Pioneer 34, Hopedale 20, 3:20 left 3Q
Patrick Madden makes two free throws, but the Blue Raiders can't stem the tide.
Pioneer 23, Hopedale 15, 6:09 left 3Q
Patrick Madden going to the basket early in the quarter, but Brayden Thayer responds with a 3.
Halftime: Pioneer 25, Hopedale 13
JJ Douglas almost got another buzzer beater to go down, but the Blue Raiders are in a tough spot. Brayden Thayer ha 16 points for the Panthers.
Pioneer 25, Hopedale 13, 32.2 to halftime
Panthers on a 15-2 run.
Pioneer 16, Hopedale 13, 4:01 to halftime
Panthers starting to heat up. Thayer hit back to back 3s.
Hopedale 13, Pioneer 13, 5:00 to halftime
Robbie Manning refuses the screen then has a nice finish in the paint. Brayden Thayer responds again with a fadeaway contested 3. Timeout Blue Raiders
End 1Q: Hopedale 11, Pioneer 10
JJ Douglas hits a DEEP 3 at the buzzer to give the Blue Raiders the lead.
Hopedale 5, Pioneer 5, 2:23 left 1Q
Patrick Madden on the board for the Blue Raiders with a cut to the hoop. But Brayden Thayer responds for the Panthers. A charge by Madden gives Pioneer a chance to take the leads.
Hopedale 3, Pioneer 3, 4:56 left 1Q
Blg block from Kurt Redekder keeps it level
Hopedale 3, Pioneer 0, 6:51 left 1Q
Great defensive possession early from the Panthers but better ball movement by the Blue Raiders. Keigan Murphy with the 3 for Hopedale.
Pregame
Pioneer Valley starters:
Ben Werner, Sr. G
Kurt Reddeker, SR. G
Jackson Glazier, So. F
Braden Thayer, So. G
Alex McLelland, Sr. G
Hopedale starters:
Bradyen Lewis, Sr. G
Patrick Madden Sr. G
Robbie Manning, Sr. G
Keigan Murphy, Jr. G
Danny Carroll, Sr. C
The top of the mountain is not an easy climb.
Hopedale is after its first outright boys basketball state championship when the No. 2 Blue Raiders, who were named Division 4 co-champions in 2020, face undefeated No. 1 Pioneer Valley Regional at 12 p.m. Saturday at the Tsongas Center in the Division 5 final.
Hopedale (22-3) has won four games in a row since falling to David Prouty in the Clark Tournament Small Schools final. The last two wins have come by one point over Westport in the state semifinals and four points over defending state champion New Mission in the quarterfinals.
Senior guard Patrick Madden is at the center of everything for the Blue Raiders. He led the Dual Valley Conference, scoring 17.6 points per game and joined the 1,000-point club in late December. Hopedale has other threats in Nate Rutkowski (9 points per game) and J.J. Douglas (8.4 ppg).
The Blue Raiders fell in the 2000 championship game against Newburyport.
They're tasked with stopping a Pioneer Valley team (25-0) that's rarely been challenged. The Panthers have won their last seven games encompassing both the Western Massachusetts Class D tournament and the D5 state tournament by at least 20 points. They've scored at least 70 points a total of 16 times and are outscoring their opponents by an average of 30 points per game.
Brayden Thayer, the son of coach Scott Thayer, averages 20.5 points per game, and Kurt Redeker is at 19.4 per contest.
Pioneer is making its fourth state final appearance but first since 1999. The Panthers reached three in a row from 1996-98 and won back-to-back championships in '96 and '97 with future NBA player Adam Harrington.