In a thrilling Division 4 quarterfinal, CC Gurek (team-high 9 points) emerged the hero for the third-seeded South Hadley girls’ basketball team, pulling up from NBA-range with two minutes to go in overtime and sinking a 3-point dagger to give hosts a five-point lead it would carry to a 53-46 victory Thursday night.
Senior Sarah Chenette closed out her stellar career with a 30-point, 10-rebound performance for the No. 6 Skippers (14-8). With Cohasset trailing by 2 in the final possession, she rebounded her own miss, was fouled, and drained both free throws with 2.8 seconds to go to send the game to OT.
“Perfect swishes,” Cohasett coach Mike Sacchitella said.
The program’s career scoring leader by over 300 points, the Middlebury-bound guard recovered from a torn anterior cruciate ligament suffered last spring to guide the Skippers to the quarterfinals.
“Sarah has been absolutely incredible,” said Sacchitella, who is in his third season as head coach but has known Chenette since she was 8.
“I could never ask anything more from her. She raises the level of everyone around her.”
Sophomores Addy Andrews and Kate Greer combined for nine points and 16 rebounds. “They carried themselves out of the gym the same way they carried themselves in,” Sacchitella said. “They knew they were a part of something special.”
South Hadley will play the winner of Saturday’s Bourne/Tyngsborough in a state semifinal (TBA).
Division 1 State
Wachusett 67, Weymouth 44 — The No. 2 Mountaineers (20-0) marched to a 40-16 halftime cushion and followed the lead of Mary Gibbons (14 points), Jae Scott (7 points, 3 rebounds, and 8 steals) to the quarterfinal victory over No. 7 Weymouth (20-5) in Holden.
Division 5 State
Hoosac Valley 60, St. John Paul II 34 — Emma Meczywor scored 16 points, Taylor Garabedian added 13, and Ashlyn Lesure had 12 more to guide the No. 1 Hurricanes (20-3) to a quarterfinal victory over the No. 9 Lions (15-7) in Cheshire.
Boys’ basketball
Division 3 State
Pittsfield 76, Medfield 65 — In a quarterfinal matchup that was neck-and-neck for three quarters, the third-seeded Generals (16-5) pulled away with a 26-16 margin in the final eight to oust No. 6 Medfield (18-6) in a state quarterfinal.
“We answered everything they threw at us,” Medfield coach Herb Grace said. “But some plays at the end just didn’t go our way.”
A string of costly turnovers late in the fourth quarter, plus some critical 3-pointers at the other end, allowed the Generals to finally gain separation with a 6-point lead.
Senior Malachi Perry scored 26 points for the Generals. Sophomore Pete Kumar (23 points) led the Big Blue, and senior Luke Lisciandra was close behind with 17.
“I loved coaching them,” Grace said of his senior class. “I’ve been coaching for 35 years, and I enjoyed this group as much as any group I’ve ever had.”
Medfield had rattled off seven straight wins before the road ended in Pittsfield.
“Very proud of the team, we played our best basketball the last few weeks of the season,” Grace said. “They were respectful, hard-working, and treated each other with kindness and respect, and that’s more important than any state championship in my book.”
Sam Robb O'Hagan can be reached at sam.robbohagan@globe.com. Follow him on X @samrobbohagan and on Instagram @samrobbohagan.