HHS boys hoops starts year strong

The Hopkinton High School boys basketball team returned from the winter break and continued its strong start, improving to 5-1 after early-January league wins over Westwood (in overtime), Holliston and Millis.

Chris Banks, with help from fellow assistant coach Jay Golden, stepped up to lead the Hillers as head coach Tom Keane took a medical leave to start the year. Keane was hoping to return before the end of the month.

Seniors Elan Rosen, Travis Finfrock and Tommy Ambrosone have led the way for Hopkinton — Rosen with his inside play (averaging 16 points per game), Finfrock with his long-range shooting (12.8 ppg) and Ambrosone with his defense and ball-handling — but it’s been a balanced attack that has made Hopkinton so dangerous. …

Girls basketball won its first three games, including an impressive one-point win over Framingham just before the break, but opened 2020 with losses to TVL foes Westwood and Millis. Sophomores Lexy Trendel, Kiki Fossbender and Lauren Cho have stood out, along with junior Caroline Connell. …

The HHS wrestling team went 2-2 at the Natick dual meet on Jan. 4, with Luke Dionne (113) and Jake Sokol (170) winning individual titles. …

In indoor track and field, sophomore Kate Powers won the shot put at the Freshman/Sophomore Meet at the Reggie Lewis Athletic Center in Boston on Jan. 4. …

In swimming, all three boys relay teams qualified for the state meet with their performances in a meet vs. Waltham and Wayland on Dec. 31. One girls relay qualified for sectionals the same day. Both teams split their meets, routing Waltham but narrowly losing to Wayland.

Grabmeier receives top honor

HHS girls volleyball coach Margie Grabmeier was named the American Volleyball Coaches Association Region 1 Coach of the Year. Grabmeier led the Hillers to a 20-1 record and an appearance in the Central/West sectional final.

Finnerty shines at Bowdoin

Hopkinton’s Kara Finnerty, a senior captain for the field hockey team at Bowdoin College, was named a first-team All-American as well as first-team All-Region after helping the Polar Bears go 14-2 overall and 9-1 in the New England Small College Athletic Conference.

A forward, Finnerty started all 16 games and recorded seven goals and seven assists. A third-team All-American in 2018, she started every game of her college career and ranks 10th all-time at Bowdoin with 94 career points.

Finnerty, who attended high school at St. Mark’s School in Southborough, also plays lacrosse at the Maine school and was named first-team All-Region in that sport last spring.