Hopedale vs. Pioneer Valley live updates from MIAA D5 boys basketball state championship
LOWELL – 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.
This article originally appeared on The Milford Daily News: Hopedale vs. Pioneer Valley basketball state championship live updates
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