Hollis Brookline girls basketball holds off Derryfield to open with win (video)

HOLLIS - Bob Murphy is expecting big things from Camryn Dunn and Cheyenne Colbert this season.

On Friday night, the pair delivered for the Hollis Brookline High School girls basketball team.

With the Cavaliers facing their first deficit of the game, Dunn and Colbert combined to score 11 straight points, part of a 13-3 run to end the game and give HB a 51-42 win over Derryfield in the Division II season opener for both teams.

Dunn, a sophomore, finished with 16 points, including a pair of free throws with 4:43 remaining that put the Cavs (1-0) back in front after the Cougars took their only lead of the game, and then hitting a 3-pointer on the next possession.

The senior Colbert added 13 points, make four straight free throws in the final 30 seconds, as HB was 11 of 13 from the line in the fourth quarter. Eva Kelley added five of her six points in the frame, going 5 of 7 at the line.

"She had some huge shots down there and that 3 was huge," Murphy said of Dunn. "Camryn is only a sophomore, she’s got all the skills and the height. She really commits herself. She plays year-round. Cheyenne is the best post player I’ve ever had. The foul shooting of Kelley and Cheyenne was huge."

Emily Tebbets came off the bench to added six points for HB, as the Cavs needed to rely in their depth in the first half after dealing with some foul trouble.

Derryfield (0-1) got a big night from Tia Ferdinando, as she scored nine of her team-high 15 points in the first half to help keep the Cougars in the game. Abby Fournier added 11 points while Chloe Bremberg had seven and Kailyn Plage hit two 3s for six points.

"I thought they did awesome," Derryfield coach Courtney Cheetham said. "What we’re looking for is for kids to compete for 32 minutes. I thought we did that. We went down early, which was OK, but we continued to fight. We got the lead in the fourth, so there’s not much more you can ask for from the kids than to stay positive and keep going hard."

After reaching the Division IV championship game a year ago, the Cougars opted to jump up two divisions for the current two-year cycle in the NHIAA, and Friday was their first contest against a Division II opponent.

Some nerves showed early, as HB jumped out to a 10-0 lead with more than four minutes remaining in the first quarter. Ava Plage scored Derryfield's first points on a putback with 3:26 left in the quarter, but HB was able to stretch the lead to as many as 12 points early in the second.

Fouls began to pile up for both teams, with Colbert picking up her second with 1:18 to go in the first and Daniella Allanach getting her second midway through the second. Both sat for the rest of the first half, as did Derryfield's Sam Chappell, who got her third foul with seven minutes to go until halftime.

"Cheyenne sitting on the bench changes the game," Murphy said. "And then we had our best defensive player also on the bench in the second quarter."

Down 17-5, Ferdinando led the Cougars back into it, scoring nine straight points to cut the lead to seven. A 3-pointer by Fournier with just under a minute to play in the half made it a four-point game, but two free throws by McKenna Dunn gave HB a 23-17 lead at halftime.

"We were really trying to keep our defensive pressure on and I thought once Colbert went out, we were able to find our ground a little defensively," Cheetham said. "She’s a really hard matchup for anyone. I was proud of that."

A 3 by Camryn Dunn and a basket by Colbert to open the second half put the Cavs back up 11 points, but the Cougars chipped away at the lead. Kailyn Plage's buzzer-beating 3 to end the quarter capped a 12-5 run for Derryfield and cut HB's lead to 35-31.

Baskets by Ferdinando and Fournier got the Cougars within one, 36-35, with 6:03 left in the game, and after the teams traded some free throws, a 3 by Fournier gave Derryfield its only lead, 39-38, with 5:25 to play.

"We’ve just got to get better at protecting the basketball," Murphy said. We had a few too many turnovers. They also made a handful of 3s that we weren’t getting all the way out on them. That will come. I’ll just keep reminding them. It kills us, doesn’t matter what defense we’re in."

But the Cavs were able to respond. Camryn Dunn was fouled at the other end and made both free throws to put HB head for good, 40-39, and after a Derryfield turnover, she hit a 3 to make it a four-point game. Colbert followed with a jump shot from the wing for a 45-39 lead with 3:13 to play.

Neither team would score for more than two minutes, until Fournier was fouled on a 3-point attempt and made all three foul shots to get Derryfield within three. But Colbert and Kelley combined to go 6 of 6 at the line in the final 30 seconds to put the game away.

"I was happy we got a good start out of the gate," Murphy said. "We kept the lead pretty much all the way through. Our foul shooting was on."