March 5, 2022 - Story and photos by Joshua Ross
For a decade straight, a Blasetti has taken the court for Hingham High School’s girls basketball team. Last night, in most likely will be for the last time, youngest daughter Perry might have had the most memorable moment of them all.
With just under seven minutes to go in the second quarter and her team down by two, the senior captain dribbled up the court, pulled up beyond the three point line and as the ball sailed through the netting, etched her name in the history books forever. At the next whistle, the game stopped and Hingham AD Jim Quatromoni announced to the crowd and to Blasetti herself, that she just became the only the second player in Hingham High School to score 1,000 career points. She had no idea she needed only 9 points to reach the milestone. Only a handful of people knew. Even her sister Ryley, who was in attendance, had no idea.
The moment seemed to jump start her teammates as the game got off to a slow start. In their third meeting in two weeks, both teams seemed to have some playoff nerves in the first quarter. Junior Sarah Holler single-handedly kept her team in it the first quarter with her hustle and the fact she grabbed every available rebound. Once Blasetti scored the three to give her team the lead, the nerves settled and they began to play their game. They aggressively drove to the basket and dove for every loose ball causing Marshfield’s top players to get in early foul trouble. It was close throughout the game until junior captain Colette Hanney drained a three pointer as time expired in the third quarter extending the Harborwomen’s lead to 40-35, topping off a 7-0 run to end the quarter. Hingham locked it down in the fourth quarter only giving up four points to the Rams. The Harborwomen outscored Marshfield 25-5 to close out the game and secure them a spot in the round of 16 vs Springfield Central.
“She is my second (1,000 point scorer) I’ve coached,” coach Roland Millien said of Blasetti after the game. “And she is up top with some of the greatest players I’ve coached in my entire career. I’ve coached a kid who won a national championship at Duke, I’ve coached a kid who’s playing at Notre Dame right now, and she is right there up there at the top. She’s the cream of the crop.”
Traditionally, milestones like this are closely tracked and publicized by the team and program. But given that Blasetti wasn’t even aware, as is her nature to care more about wins than individual accomplishments, it was held pretty close to vest that she would be making history last night.
“That basket, as soon as I told the bench, were so excited,” Millien explains. “And she didn’t know. We wanted to surprise her. We found out right before the game she was at 991 points and was nine points away. So it was a great accomplishment for her.”
This night almost didn’t happen. A few weeks ago, Blasetti was knocked out of the game against Whitman-Hanson when she took a hard hit to the head. She luckily only missed one game and managed to return to finish out the season and celebrate last night.
“My sister Ryley surprised me,” Blasetti said after the game. “There was so much motivation, so much energy - the fans, everything. It was a really good night. And ya, I got 1,000, but it was more important to me to win the game.”
As the team moves on to the round of 16, the seedings are such that this was the last home game of the “Blasetti Dynasty.” Ten years of having at least one Blasetti on the floor comes to an end. While no one could have imagined the legacy the family would leave the girls basketball program, eldest sister Sydney couldn’t more proud.
“The past ten years have been surreal,” she said. “I’m a really proud big sister. I started it off and kind of led the way and it turns out I wasn’t the best and I’m so happy about that. I’m so proud of my sisters. I’ve been able to watch them them grow and I’m glad that basketball isn’t over for Perry yet, she gets to continue at college (Western New England College), but I am sad it’s (almost) done in Hingham. But it has been an awesome ride, so many memories and no regrets. I can’t wait to tell stories to my kids.”
Behind these amazing players and leaders are parents Bridget and Mark. The Blasetti name is synonyms with girls basketball in Hingham because of their time, energy, and commitment to the sport. In recent years, they have split their time watching Perry in Hingham and traveling to Upstate NY to watch Hayley play at Sienna and Ryley play at St. Rose’s.
“We haven’t really talked about it much,” Sydney says of the Blasetti era coming to an end. “They’ve just been involved from day one. From when we played gals basketball, they were our coaches. To middle school, they were our coaches. To high school, we couldn’t get away from them. They joined the board and made sure that everything ran smoothly and were there for us every step of the way. I think it’s going to be different for them. They are going to have a lot more time on their hands, but they will still be driving to see Perry and Ryley play.”
While there is at least one more (hopefully more) game to add to the Blasetti story, Perry summed up their journey perfectly.
“It ended on a good note. Couldn’t have ended better. I’m so happy my whole family was here, except for Hayley who was watching at home, she had her own game. But it couldn’t have ended better.”
Game Photos
