Junior Dan Barone drilled a pair of free throws in a final minute to snap a tie and lift the Holliston basketball team to a 48-46 home win over Tri-Valley League opponent Dover-Sherborn Friday night.

Senior Sam Gillespie led with 15 points, including a crowd-pleasing dunk in the first half, while senior Ryan Barrett had seven points and 14 rebounds as the Panthers (3-4, 2-3 TVL) snapped a mini-losing streak. Holliston had lost two straight and four of its last five heading into Friday night's game.

"It was great to get back in the winning column," said Holliston coach Dan Santos. "We had good ball pressure and some strong individual performances tonight.”

Meanwhile, Colin Jamerson paced the Raiders with eight points. D-S fell to 4-4 (2-4 TVL) but still remained on pace for a Division 4 tournament berth.

Raider coach Rick Grady said that while he felt the team had a “nice run” to bring the game back within reach in the fourth quarter, the team has a lot to learn from the nights loss.

“Turnovers were a huge issue,” he said. “Not taking anything away from Holliston, they played great defensively, but we just can't dig ourselves into holes like we did tonight.

"We're still hunting for ten wins, that's our goal, but we need to get better from this.”

The Panthers jumped out to a 24-19 first-half lead, highlighted by Gillespie's dunk, which whipped the crowd into a frenzy.

"That was pretty electric,” admitted Santos.

D-S pushed the Panthers in the second half, benefiting from some clutch shooting and solid defense from Jamerson, Glen Krebs and Ned Linehan. With under two minutes to go, the Raiders tied at 46-46, but Barone's free throws and a subsequent defensive stop sealed the win for Holliston.

“I think a lot of their individual performances tonight, particularly Gillespie and (fellow senior co-captain Christian) Baker, really helped lead the team get the win tonight," said Panther sophomore Jared Emmons. "The 15 points Gillespie scored and the dunk were huge, but it's just nice to be able to get back into the win column so now we can enjoy the weekend.”

With the team's eyes now set on Tuesday's matchup with TVL leader Medway (5-2, 5-0 TVL), Santos knows there's still plenty to work on.

“We need to take better care of the ball," said Santos. "We forced too many shots tonight, and with Medway, we're hoping to give them their first TVL loss. We'll need a full four quarters of tight defense and good shot selection.”

GIRLS BASKETBALL

HOLLISTON 43, DOVER-SHERBORN 36: Senior center Vicky Sostilio's double-double led the Panthers to a Tri-Valley League victory over host Dover-Sherborn Friday night.

Sostilio had 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Jackie Sostilio led the scoring with 16 points and seven rebounds as Holliston improved to 4-2 (4-2 TVL).