Winnisquam Regional’s Lauren MacDonald, left, and Hopkinton’s Shaylee Murdough chase a loose ball during the first half of their Division III state semifinal at Bow High School Wednesday. Murdough scored 23 points to lead the Hawks to a 51-33 victory.
Winnisquam Regional's Lauren Macdonald, center, drives against Hopkinton's Sydney Westover, left, and Helen Yeaton, right, during the first half of their Division III state semifinal at Bow High School Wednesday.
Hopkinton’s Sydney Westover, right, and Winnisquam’s Caidyn Carter, look to pull in a rebound during the first half of their Division III state semifinal at Bow High School Wednesday.
Hopkinton's Lizz Holmes, front, and Winnisquam Regional's Sophia Braun, try to pull in a rebound during the first half of their Division III state semifinal at Bow High School Wednesday.
Winnisquam Regional’s Lauren MacDonald, left, and Hopkinton’s Shaylee Murdough chase a loose ball during the first half of their Division III state semifinal at Bow High School Wednesday. Murdough scored 23 points to lead the Hawks to a 51-33 victory.
Winnisquam Regional’s Lauren MacDonald, left, and Hopkinton’s Shaylee Murdough chase a loose ball during the first half of their Division III state semifinal at Bow High School Wednesday. Murdough scored 23 points to lead the Hawks to a 51-33 victory.
Winnisquam Regional’s Lauren MacDonald, left, and Hopkinton’s Shaylee Murdough chase a loose ball during the first half of their Division III state semifinal at Bow High School Wednesday. Murdough scored 23 points to lead the Hawks to a 51-33 victory.
Winnisquam Regional's Lauren Macdonald, center, drives against Hopkinton's Sydney Westover, left, and Helen Yeaton, right, during the first half of their Division III state semifinal at Bow High School Wednesday.
Hopkinton’s Sydney Westover, right, and Winnisquam’s Caidyn Carter, look to pull in a rebound during the first half of their Division III state semifinal at Bow High School Wednesday.
Hopkinton's Lizz Holmes, front, and Winnisquam Regional's Sophia Braun, try to pull in a rebound during the first half of their Division III state semifinal at Bow High School Wednesday.
BOW — After losing in last year’s Division III semifinals to Conant, Hopkinton High School junior Shaylee Murdough didn’t want to have that same feeling leaving the court at the end of this year’s semifinal against Winnisquam.
And it showed right from the beginning.
Murdough came out firing and poured in 16 of her season-high 23 points in the first half to set the tone in a 51-33 victory for second-seeded Hopkinton over No. 3 Winnisquam at Bow High School on Wednesday.
“We were here last year and of course it just feels amazing to take it one more step towards the championship,” Murdough said. “There was so much motivation to come back this year. We only had three returners, so it was a fresh, new team and we just had the grit to come out here and we just really wanted this win today.”
Only Murdough, Sydney Westover and Lizz Holmes were part of the team that dropped that 46-31 decision to Conant, but now they’ll have the chance to win the program’s fourth championship on Saturday (5 p.m.) when it plays in the Division III final at Keene State College against No. 4 Kearsarge, which beat No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas 52-44 in Wednesday’s later semifinal..
Hopkinton (16-3) has won titles in Class I (1979) and Class M (2001 and 2003), while it lost the 2018 Division III championship game to Conant.
“(Murdough) was phenomenal,” first-year Hopkinton coach Mike Mahoney said. “She was here last year and I think she had that taste in her mouth where she wanted to come out and get it this year and get to the finals and she played like it.
“She’s our motor, she’s our leader and the kids really respond to her.”
After Winnisquam (14-5) held an early lead, Hopkinton started to take control with a 6-2 run to end the first quarter. Zoe Bishop capped the run by grabbing a rebound and finding Avery Chase in transition to give the Hawks a 14-11 lead entering the second quarter.
Murdough took over the second by scoring 10 points, beginning with a jumper from the top of the key, followed by a drive for a basket.
Murdough capped the quarter with back-to-back 3-pointers to give the Hawks a 28-17 halftime lead.
“I just needed the confidence,” Murdough said. “... I just think getting the crowd going really got me rolling.”
Winnisquam closed to within 32-24 on a hoop from Lauren MacDonald (20 points), but Hopkinton closed the quarter on a 12-3 run to take a 44-25 lead into the fourth.
“I thought that was probably our most complete game,” Mahoney said. “There were nerves early on because a lot of these girls haven’t been on this stage. Once we got through those nerves, we played so well.”
