JAY- Jay came out on fire as Kaylie DeMillo drained four three-pointers early and Sara Fetterhoff led a smothering defensive attack in a 62-20 Class C preliminary win over Sacopee Valley.
The Tigers forced 37 turnovers and limited the Hawks to 19 percent shooting in the game.
Fifth-ranked Jay (13-6) advances to play in a quarterfinal game against Telstar at the Augusta Civic Center next Tuesday at 7 p.m.
“Being able to scout them definitely helped,” Jay coach Chris Bessey said. “I knew that playing our man-to-man defense would be a struggle for them to advance the ball up the court. When we started pressing it really helped pick up the tempo of the game.”
The Jay offense was equally effective as it raced out to a 10-2 lead and the score was 16-4 after the first quarter. DeMillo made three treys and Jessica LeBrecque (seven points) also hit from beyond the arc. The Tigers five first-quarter field goals were all three-pointers.
DeMillo, a freshman who made the MVC all-star team, finished with 19 points, five assists and four steals.
Sacopee Valley, which concludes its season at 6-11, simply didn’t have an answer to the Tigers relentless pressure. The Hawks three-guard attack of Elyse White, Melissa Verrill (five points) and Ann Marie Day were ineffective.
“It was nice to see us play well tonight,” Bessey said. “The last few games there was no emotion, but tonight we played as a team. We had an idea that Sacopee Valley would throw some junk at us like a triangle and two, but we stayed with the same stuff that we’ve used all season and the shots were dropping.”
Jay shot 40 percent from the floor and committed 17 turnovers, however, the Tigers out shot the Hawks 12-2 from the free throw line.
Annette Reed led the Hawks with eight points.
A lack of height has prevented the Tigers from pounding the ball inside, but in this game Fetterhoff, Heather Johnson and Sara Fetterhoff each scored 12 points and added five rebounds.
“Sara Fetterhoff really played with a lot of confidence tonight,” Bessey said. “She was solid on defense and took the Sacopee Valley big girl (Emily Morrill) out of her game.”
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