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# Hollis Brookline girls basketball turned in a season like none other
- URL: https://www.nh-highschoolsports.com/hollis-brookline-girls-basketball-turned-season-like-none/
- Published: 2017-03-13T19:00:06.000Z
- Updated: 2017-03-13T19:00:06.000Z
- Description: When the girls basketball season got underway, Bob Murphy knew that his Hollis Brookline High School team was capable of having a special kind of year. The longtime coach knew he had a player in Cassandra Stapelfeld who could do a lot of things on the court for the Cavaliers. The question was, would
- Author: Joe Marchilena
- Tags: Division II, girls basketball, Hollis Brookline, NH High School Sports Insider, playoffs, #wp, #wp-post, #Import 2026-08-18 04:44

When the girls basketball season got underway, Bob Murphy knew that his Hollis Brookline High School team was capable of having a special kind of year.

The longtime coach knew he had a player in Cassandra Stapelfeld who could do a lot of things on the court for the Cavaliers.

The question was, would the rest of the team be able to step up to help her out? The answer turned out to be a resounding yes.

"These guys have been working hard since the end of last season," Murphy said. "You go through summer ball and fall ball and then you have a long season. All these kids have made a significant effort to be at practice six days a week."

With four starters who could shoot from anywhere on the floor, and a center who could control the boards and draw the attention of defenses, the Cavs had an offense that averaged better than 60 points per game that led them to a place no HB team had gone in over two decades.

It was the Cavs' first trip to the final four since the 1980s, and their first time in a championship game since 1974.

"We had a goal of getting to the semifinals," Murphy said. "I'm so happy for those kids because they deserved this."

It was a longtime coming for Murphy, too, who last had a team in the semifinals when he was the head coach at Merrimack in 2008, when the Tomahawks lost to eventual-champion Winnacunnet.

Murphy used that game as a teaching moment for the Cavs leading into the semifinal win over Portsmouth.

"My kids came out and they were so excited, all five of my starters got two fouls in the first quarter," he said. "The game was over. That was the big discussion before the game (against Portsmouth). I showed them the scorebook. I don't know if it worked, but they stayed out of foul trouble."

The Cavs weren't able to repeat that against Lebanon in the championship game, as center Elizabeth Atkinson battled foul trouble in each half.

Haley Modelski and Elizabeth Bonnette gave HB solid minutes off the bench, but when Atkinson returned to the game in the fourth quarter with four fouls, the Raiders took advantage by going inside.

"We had conversations during timeouts that if (Atkinson) got back on the floor, we'd attack her aggressively, and we did a good job with that," Lebanon coach Tim Kehoe said. "This is a smart team and we play to our game plan."

While the Cavs will have to find a way to replace Stapelfeld and fellow senior starter Kenzie Day, they'll return three starters in sophomores Atkinson and Brodie Kelley and junior Joanna Balsamo. HB also had two more sophomores and three freshmen on the varsity roster this season.

"We were very happy to get where we were," Murphy said. "We've never had a team in the final in this division. I've never been in the final and I now know what it's like."