Collins Closes Career with MVP Performance in Title Game

Camryn Collins
Foxboro senior Camryn Collins rises up for a shot in the first half of the Division 3 state championship against Norwell. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)

By Josh Perry || HockomockSports.com Managing Editor

LOWELL, Mass. – Norwell went on a run at the end of the first half of Saturday night’s Div. 3 state title game at the Tsongas Center, pulling within nine points at the break. It was as close as anyone had been to Foxboro at halftime in the postseason and the Clippers fans were sensing an upset brewing, but the Warriors had Camryn Collins and she took the game over in the second half to ensure that her stellar four-year varsity career ended on a high note.

After scoring six points in the first quarter, Collins was held scoreless in the second, but the Rider University-commit and two-time Hockomock League MVP exploded for 19 of her game-high 25 in the second half, helping Foxboro cruise to a 66-43 win and a second straight state championship.

Click here for a photo gallery from Foxboro vs. Norwell.

“She took over and she wanted the ball,” Foxboro coach Lisa Downs said of Collins’ performance in the second half. “I was calling the plays for her to get it because I could see in her mannerisms that she was going to score. She was a senior out there tonight.”

It was a tough shooting first half for the Warriors, who had rolled into the final with four wins by no fewer than 30 points. Collins came out before the third quarter and slowly worked on her shooting form with a series of short jumpers. Then she started the second half by burying the first one that counted and restoring a double-digit lead that Foxboro never relinquished.

She would scored eight points in the third, getting a couple baskets in transition and a couple of jumpers in half-court sets. Foxboro pushed the lead to 17 heading to the fourth.

Collins continued to be aggressive in the final quarter. She sank two at the line then showed off a wicked crossover, shedding her defender, and swishing the pull-up jumper. After stepping into a three from the left wing, Collins snatched an offensive rebound and powered it back in for two more and added one last bucket on the break, finishing with 11 in the fourth.

“In the most humble way, yeah,” Collins said with a smile when she was asked after the game if she picks spots to take over. “I think at some point I know my strengths and my defender’s weaknesses and I just have to attack it. I always end up doing it in the second half, don’t know how that happens.”

This is the end of a remarkable career that began with her debut as a freshman during the Covid-shortened 2021 season. She only got 10 games that year to show flashes of the talent that would lead her to back-to-back league MVPs.

Classmate Erin Foley, who was also a freshman starter that year, noted, “Every single time we got on the court, we were so nervous. Our freshman year there were big expectations with Coach Lisa and as we grew with her and with the older girls taking us under their wings we were just so used to this and we came to play every night.”

“We really evolved as players and our confidence was there every night.”

Foley has been a teammate of Collins since winning fourth grade titles at Mass Premier Courts, so going through four seasons of high school competition and closing out their careers together as champions has added meaning.

“Having Cam on the team means everything because as the clock’s winding down, we have 10 seconds on the shot clock, we hand the ball to her,” Foley said. “We know she’s going to get the job done. Awesome being on the same team as her, I would not want to go against her that’s for sure.”

In addition to her scoring (a league-best 21.9 point per game during the regular season), Collins is also a lockdown defender. She had four steals on Saturday, guarding Norwell junior Maddie Oliver (15 points, including the 1,000th of her career). Despite Oliver’s size advantage, Collins was able to make things difficult for her in the post and challenge shots on the perimeter.

“The standard is always defense and showing effort throughout every quarter,” Collins said. “We might not start off the game making shots, but as long as we stay on defense anything can happen.”

Downs was asked what Collins, who eclipsed the 1,000-point mark for her career, meant to the Foxboro program and how hard it will be to replace her next year.

“Those are some big, humungous footsteps to fill,” she said. “It’s going to have to be several people stepping into that role because she just brings the athleticism that I’ve never had before. Whether she’s scoring two points, it doesn’t matter really, she just does the intangibles out there that not many coaches can say they have.”

With her teammates back on the Tsongas Center court to greet their friends and families before starting the trip back to Foxboro, Collins was asked to reflect on what it means to be able to spend the final moments of her high school career as a state champion.

“It’s so rare for somebody to have something like this, so I just feel really grateful,” she said. “We worked really hard to get here. I’m really proud.”

Foxboro (24-2) was grateful too. It was an MVP performance from Collins in the second half that turned what might have been an anxiety-riddled 16 minutes into a coronation for one of the best teams in the state.

Click here for a photo gallery from Foxboro vs. Norwell.

Foxboro Sinks Norwell, Wins Second Straight State Title

Foxboro girls basketball
Foxboro celebrates after beating Norwell to clinch the Division 3 state championship, the second consecutive title for the Warriors. (Ryan Lanigan/HockomockSports.com)

By Josh Perry || HockomockSports.com Managing Editor

LOWELL, Mass. – If there was any worry or anxiety for Foxboro coming out for the second half of Saturday night’s Div. 3 state championship game, the Warriors were doing a good job of hiding it. Norwell closed the first half with an 11-0 run to cut Foxboro’s lead to single digits, but the Warriors stood on the floor at the Tsongas Center smiling and laughing before the third quarter got underway.

The defending D2 champs scored the opening eight points of the second half to restore calm to their fans, pushed the lead to 17 by the end of the third, and ran away with a 66-43 victory.

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

The 23-point margin of victory was as close as anyone had come to the Warriors this postseason, capping another dominant year, clinching back-to-back state titles in different divisions, and earning Foxboro its fourth title in the past six full seasons (not including the Covid-shortened 2021 season that had no state tournament).

“Third quarter is always our go-to quarter and I always say that’s the most important quarter of the game because you have to come out with a lot of energy,” Foxboro coach Lisa Downs said. “It’s that time that’s critical where, if a team is down by a little bit, if you can get two or three baskets it really sets them back on their heels and that will translate into a lot of momentum in our direction.”

When asked what the Warriors needed to do to go back-to-back, senior guard Camryn Collins (25 points and four steals) added, “It’s a balance of staying humble and being confident. We had to work hard the past two years and keep building. It was a hard road but I’m really glad that we came out on top.”

Foxboro never got into a rhythm shooting the ball but, while the Warriors are known for scoring a lot of points, defense was in championship form right from the opening tip. Norwell managed just two points, on a pair of free throws from freshman Alex Cassidy, in the opening quarter and trailed 17-2 after eight minutes.

Isabelle Chamberlin (nine rebounds and three blocks) grabbed an offensive rebound and scored to start the game and the Warriors never trailed. Junior center Addie Ruter (17 points, 11 rebounds, and six blocks) got the game off to a good start with a short jumper and then she snatched an offensive rebound and hit a turnaround jumper to make it 8-2.

A Ruter block fell to Collins (25 points and four steals), who fired a long pass to Kailey Sullivan (15 points and three assists) for a layup plus a foul. Collins intercepted a pass and raced ahead for two and then got free on an inbounds play with Ava Hill finding her alone under the basket for two more. Ruter capped the quarter with another tough jumper, this time assisted by Adrianna Porazzo.

Cassidy scored, plus a foul, a minute into the second quarter for Norwell’s first made basket of the night, but Ruter answered with a put-back. Erin Foley (seven rebounds and three assists) nailed Foxboro’s first three of the night, then assisted on a triple from Sullivan that put Foxboro up 20. After a Norwell basket, Ruter scored in transition to make it 31-11.

Despite not shooting well, Foxboro seemed in cruise control, but the Clippers responded with a strong final three minutes of the half to make it a game again. Heidi Warren buried a corner three and Maddie Oliver (15 points and eight rebounds) followed with another to get back within 12. Reagan Dowd (12 points and five steals) closed the half with a straightaway three and suddenly the Clippers had life, down just 31-22 at the break.

Foxboro’s two leading scorers, Collins and Sullivan, took it upon themselves to regain control of the game. Collins hit a jumper, then took a Ruter block and assisted on a Sullivan fast break bucket. Sullivan returned the favor with a nice dish to Collins in transition and then the junior point guard drilled her second three of the night to make it 40-22.

Dowd continued to keep Norwell in the game, scoring seven points in the third and cutting the lead back down to 13, but Collins hit another pull-up jumper and freshman Alaysia Drummonds was able to pick out Sullivan with a long pass ahead to put the Warriors up 17 going to the fourth.

In the final quarter, Collins, the two-time Hockomock League MVP and Rider-commit, took over to seal the win. She crossed over her defender and knocked down a jumper and walked into a three that gave Foxboro a 22-point advantage. Ruter added five points in the fourth, using her length to knock down a couple jumpers over the top of Norwell defenders.

“Most teams are going to double in on Addie, which is going to open everything up for our guards,” Downs explained. “Her presence in there, whether she’s scoring or whatever she’s doing, just having a body in there that people are having to focus on all the time took a little pressure off Cam and Sully.”

Oliver, who reached the 1,000-point mark for her career in the fourth quarter, scored six points in the fourth, but Collins was able to grab an offensive rebound and power through contact for two and then got out in transition to cap her night with another finish at the rim.

Foxboro (24-2), which has lost only two games to in-state opponents (both times to Wachusett) in the past two seasons, charged the floor at the final horn, as blue smoke and confetti went off behind its bench.

“Going back-to-back is just awesome,” Foley said. “We had a good feeling from the start of the season that we would be back here and we put in the work each practice. It’s just an awesome feeling. This team was amazing this year.

She added, “It doesn’t feel real right now. The bus ride home is probably when it will hit.”

Earlier this year, Downs mentioned that her team was good, but not yet great. She knew the Warriors had another level, another gear they could call on. With five playoff wins by an average of nearly 37 points per game, Foxboro showed how dominant it could be.

“They just kept getting better and better over the course of the postseason,” Downs said. “Each game, they weren’t paying attention to the score, everything was about getting really, really good. No matter who we faced today, they were ready.”

Asked about her team embracing being one of the best in the state, knowing that they were going to get every team’s best shot, Downs added, “They don’t want to go out there knowing that they’re the far superior team just by showing up on the court, they make sure they’re out there earning it.”

Click here for a photo gallery from this game.

Monday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 03/04/24

Today’s game is listed below.

Girls Basketball
Division 3

#17 Wilmington, 33 @ #1 Foxboro, 95 – FinalClick here for a Photo Gallery from this game. Ten Warriors scored, including four in double digits, as Foxboro rolled to another dominating victory and advanced to the D3 quarterfinal. Despite a tough shooting start, Foxboro’s defensive pressure helped the Warriors build a 22-10 lead in the first quarter. Foxboro then put together a 28-0 run that effectively booked its place in the next round. Kailey Sullivan started the run by knocking down an off-balance three from the right wing as the buzzer sounded at the end of the first quarter. The Warriors then scored the first 25 points of the second, outscoring the Wildcats 31-6 in the frame. Sullivan continued to fore, scoring nine points in the second. Addie Ruter added six points, Camryn Collins and Kylie Sampson each scored four, and Brynn Allen gave the Warriors a spark on both ends of the court. Foxboro has outscored its two playoff opponents 106-20 in the first half. Ruter scored eight more in the third and freshman Alaysia Drummonds scored seven points off the bench. Drummonds continued to shoot well in the fourth, scoring 10 points and knocking down two of her three shots from beyond the arc. Ruter led all scorers with 19 points, grabbed eight rebounds, and dished out three assists. Sullivan scored 16 of her 18 in the first half and she added four assists. Drummonds scored all 17 of her points in the second half. Collins added 13 points and four assists and Sampson and Erin Foley (four steals) each scored eight. Isabelle Chamberlin grabbed 11 rebounds. Foxboro will face the winner of No. 8 Dover-Sherborn/No. 9 Pentucket in the quarterfinal at a date and time to be determined.

Monday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 02/19/24

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Monday’s Schedule & Scoreboard – 02/12/24

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