Boylan’s box-and-one on Bailey stops offense

Trailing by two at halftime, the Titans turned to a box-and-one defense against Dixon standout Brooke Bailey. Boylan held the Duchesses to nine second-half points – and threw a fourth-quarter shutout – to advance to the quarterfinals with a 43-29 victory.

"We wanted to change the tempo, change the momentum in the second half," Boylan coach Paul Perrone said, "so we set out to stop them from getting Bailey the ball. We thought if we could shut her down, that would force their other girls to make plays. And it could get us into the flow of the game on both ends of the court."

The game plan worked well, as Boylan (5-7) allowed just four points in the game's final 12½ minutes.

After the teams traded leads early in the third quarter, Elizabeth Hilby's 3-pointer from the left corner put the Titans on top for good with 4:11 left in the period. Jensen Blassage followed with a three-point play a minute later, then added two layups in the closing minute of the third to give Boylan a 35-29 lead heading into the final 8 minutes.

Hilby opened the fourth with a jumper off a curl, and the Titans hit six of eight free throws over the final 6 minutes. Blassage had 18 points, three rebounds and three steals, and Hilby added seven points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals.

But it was the defense that sealed the deal. Dixon (4-9) missed all eight field-goal attempts and its lone free throw in the fourth quarter, and couldn't find Bailey down the stretch, thanks to the Titans' defensive scheme.

"They hit us with that box-and-one right when we hit a cold spell," Dixon coach Luke Ravlin said, "and we just couldn't get the stops we needed against a really good ballclub."

Dixon got off to a great start, as Bailey hit a 3-pointer on the game's opening possession and then hit two of four free throws on the Duchesses' next two trips. Maggie Bushman provided a spark off the bench later in the half, hitting her first three shots, each giving Dixon a lead.