LOWELL – The final rebound fell into her hands. The final foul shots left from those same hands.
And the championship trophy? Just try and pry it away from Phoebe Carroll.
The Hopedale senior paraded off the Tsongas Center court the same way she did four years ago after the Blue Raiders won their second Division 5 state title in four years Sunday afternoon.
Semifinal flourish: Hopedale girls basketball back in Div. 5 title game after topping Douglas
After scoring a game-high 23 points – keeping her team afloat amid an epidemic of foul trouble – Carroll said her final game wearing blue ended in storybook fashion.
“It’s so special – especially because I love my teammates so much – it’s amazing,” said Carroll, who was an eighth-grader when Hopedale won the title in 2022.
Buoyed by the play of Layla Huntley and Jenna Weeden (10 points each), Hopedale (18-7), looked to Carroll (12 rebounds) again and again in the 48-35 win over Drury. When the Blue Devils cut down a 16-point deficit on a 3-pointer by Delaney Hayden to make it 37-32, there was Carroll, tiptoeing along the baseline to bank in a momentum-busting basket.
‘They don’t always get noticed’: Underclassmen made their mark in Hopedale girls basketball state title
When Drury again cut it to five, Carroll made a tough shot in traffic – and the Blue Raiders were never threatened.
Huntley’s putback in the final minute sealed the victory, and just like the semifinal win over Douglas, Carroll stood at the foul line to score the game’s final points with two seconds remaining. Cue the celebration.
“To see these girls rally in the face of adversity – it’s pretty special,” Hopedale coach Jason Rojee said.
Rojee took over the Blue Raiders five years ago, when senior Bri Frongillo was on her way to setting the school record for points as Hopedale won its first title. Carroll’s first season ended with a double-double in the title game.
The scene repeated itself on Sunday.
“I don’t know a day without her,” Rojee said.
Hopedale secured the lead for good in the first quarter, thanks to a 3-pointer from Weeden and three points from Anna Fafard. Carroll added a three-point play in the second and took over the third when she scored eight points for a 36-23 lead. She netted eight of her team’s 12 points in the final quarter.
“There’s no moment too big for her,” Rojee said. “It’s like having another set of eyes and ears on the court. She’s just been amazing. I can’t say enough.”
Carroll will play her next basketball at the next level, for Bridgewater State. Like her mother, Cheryl, Phoebe scored more than 1,000 career points. And when the Blue Raiders had another championship in the bag, Phoebe knew just how to sum up the moment.
“It’s a small community, but we love each other so much,” she said. “We have each other’s backs – it’s a really tight-knit group.”
Tim Dumas is a multimedia journalist for the Daily News. He can be reached at [email protected]. Follow him on Instagram at tdumas1.
LOWELL — Space became scarce early in Sunday’s division 5 girls basketball state final. Neither top-seeded Drury or No. 2 Hopedale found a rhythm, as both teams swarmed defensively.
Layla Huntley made some. The junior center cleared open lanes with her screens and battled for extra possessions and points in the paint.
“I call her my brick wall. Whenever she sets a screen, the opponent just goes down onto the floor,” Hopedale sophomore Jenna Weeden said. “And I’m like, ‘Okaaaayyy.’ She gets the team hyped up.”
She worked in tandem with Weeden in the first half. Huntley scored six of her 10 points before halftime, while Weeden had six of her 10 in the second quarter. Weeden splashed a 3 in from above the break to push Hopedale’s lead to double digits for the first time with 1 minute, 41 seconds to halftime.
The Blue Raiders led by as many as 17 halfway through the quarter and weathered a late Drury run to win 48-35, capturing the program’s second state title.
“They really stepped up when we needed them,” Hopedale coach Jason Rojee said. “They don’t fill up the stat sheet. They don’t always get noticed, but it’s a steal here, a rebound there. They’ve been awesome all year.”
Neither underclassman showed the nerves they felt playing in a state championship game for the first time.
“It was very scary at first,” Huntley said. “Once we shook the nerves off, we were good.”
Huntley and Weeden looked to Hopedale’s senior leaders Phoebe Carroll and Anna Fafard, who were both eighth graders the last time the Blue Raiders won a state title in 2022. Weeden attended the game as a sixth grader.
“Not many people get to make it here,” Huntley said.
Volleyball, too: ‘New beginnings’ for Hopedale in claiming first-ever state title
Carroll scored a game-high 23 points and teamed with Fafard on the low block to limit Drury to seven field goals and just four two-pointers.
“I’ve always looked up to Phoebe. I want to be like her when I’m older,” said Huntley, who is one year younger than Carroll. “I think we work really well together. I’m going to miss her next year.”
Then it will be Huntley and Weeden’s team along with junior captain Lexi Carroll. Hopedale is graduating four seniors but bringing back 46 percent of the scoring from the state final.
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“It’s nice having someone else you can rely on,” Carroll said. “They can pull their weight. They’ll fill our shoes.”
Contact Kyle Grabowski at [email protected]. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, @kylegrbwsk.
