One up, one down.
The Vineyard girls’ basketball team staged a thrilling 55-53 home defeat of Hanover Friday in the quarterfinals of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletics Association division three south section tournament.
The boys’ team took a tough 75-56 loss to Wareham on Saturday in their quarterfinals match. They close the season 15-5.
The girls move on to the semifinals of the south section tournament, where they will face top seed Abington (22-2) at 5 p.m. at Massasoit Community College in Brockton. Game time is 5 p.m. The Vineyard, now 18-4, is seeded fourth.
A fan bus will depart the Vineyard on the 2:30 p.m. ferry Tuesday; for information or to sign up, call Peggy Stone at 774-353-6387 or at the MV Hoop Club Facebook page. High school students can also sign up for the fan bus during the lunch period.
On Friday, before they faced number five seed Hanover, in the locker room players told their coach they didn’t want this to be their last game.
Then the first quarter brought trouble for the Vineyard; senior cocaptain Emily deBettencourt had to leave the game with an injury and sophomore Sam Hargy drew several fouls.
“Going in tonight, I knew it was going to be a tight game,” head coach Maureen Hill said later. “And then when Emily went down — she’s a starting guard, one of our best defensive players — and Sam got into foul trouble, I said to Asil [Cash, assistant coach], two of our starters are not even in the game.”
Freshman Molly deBettencourt came alive in the second, scoring seven of the Vineyard’s 12 points. At the half the Vineyard was down by three, 27-24.
The teams traded points in the third quarter, as the Vineyard recovered from its deficit. Senior Diamond Araujo proved key on the boards in the third, with four points. When the final quarter began the game was tied 40-40.
A quiet home crowd came alive with two minutes left, roaring out cheers for the Vineyarders as they found themselves down 49-48. A free throw by Hargy tied the score again. In the final minutes, a fluke shot by Hanover ended up going in the net and drawing a foul. With 40 seconds left, the Vineyard was down by a point.
A set play on the next Vineyard possession put the ball in senior Mariah Duarte’s hands. Duarte glanced to either side before launching a practiced three-pointer, which swished easily through the net. It was only the second shot she had taken during the game and it made all the difference. The Vineyard had a 55-53 lead with half a minute left.
Anything can happen in thirty seconds and the Vineyard was up to the defensive challenge, controlling the ball until the clock ran out.
“The whole team — everyone played so well,” Coach Hill said.
After exceeding expectations all year, the fifth-seeded boys’ team went up against fourth-seed Wareham Saturday in their own quarterfinal game.
The Vineyard has faced Wareham in the last four postseasons.
Though both teams were well-matched in terms of their fast, physical game, the Vineyard struggled to find the basket in Wareham on Saturday afternoon, and trailed 14-11 as the first quarter ended.
“We got a lot of the shots we wanted to get in the first half, we just didn’t make them,” head coach Mike Joyce said. “And in a game against a team like this, you can’t give away bunnies.”
Wareham pulled away with the lead in the second half, sparked by sophomore Jovahn Thomas’ extraordinary performance behind the three-point line.
“Thomas had the game of his life,” Coach Joyce said. “If someone’s going to do that . . . there’s not much you can do when that happens.”
Midway through the third quarter, the Vineyard switched to man-to-man defense. Still, the Vikings were shooting lights-out and Thomas continued his three-point barrage.
The team was down 51-33 as the fourth quarter began. The Vineyard saw success at the free throw, particularly with senior co-captain Timmy Roberts, but it was not enough to overcome the deep deficit. As the team began to run into foul trouble, the seniors one by one came out of the game, to standing ovations from the Vineyard fans who had made the trip up to Wareham.
“We had great seniors, great leadership,” Coach Joyce said. “They were just really good at getting everyone on the same page.”
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