Three Recorder area girls basketball teams qualified for the state tournament a season ago. While most squads were young last year and return big portions of their rosters, more will be looking to add their name in the mix this winter.
Frontier earned the No. 20 seed in the MIAA Div. 4 state tournament, pulling off an upset over No. 13 Easthampton in the Round of 32 before falling to eventual state champion Amesbury in the Round of 16.
The Redhawks are looking to get themselves back in the mix this year. Frontier must make up for the production lost by Kaitlyn Mackin, who graduated last spring, but the club brings back nearly its entire roster from a season ago as it looks to once again win the Franklin County League North and make a run to the Div. 4 tournament.
“They’re looking good so far,” Redhawks coach Dave Machon said. “They’re in a good head space. It’ll look a little different this year and we’ll have a little different style. We have a lot of the same personnel but they don’t look the same. The girls really improved over the offseason and everyone came in ready to go.”
Kylie Laford, who led Frontier in scoring last season, returns and will once again be relied on as the top offensive option for the Redhawks. Claire Kirkendall and Hailey Hutkoski are just a few of the other scoring threats while Hannah Mackin will return to run the point.
After a successful season last year, Frontier goes from the hunters to the hunted, knowing everyone in the FCL North will be looking to knock it off this winter.
“I talked to the girls about returning as league champs and that everyone will be coming after us,” Machon said. “We can’t let our guard down. We’re focusing on team culture this year and keeping a positive outlook. When we go to big games and play against some really good teams, we have to be able to watch each others’ backs.”
The Redhawks will have to fight off Greenfield, Mahar, Palmer, Hopkins, Ware and Lenox to take home a second straight Franklin County League North title.
The Green Wave opened their season on Thursday, putting up a good fight against a South Hadley team that made it to the Div. 4 semifinals a season ago.
An injury that knocked starting point guard Azemina Cecunjanin out for the season will hurt Greenfield, but head coach Ben Johnson — who took over for longtime coach John Hickey this winter — benefits from having Amber Bergeron return from Northfield Mount Hermon.
Bergeron had a big game against the Tigers on Thursday, leading the Green Wave with 19 points. Between Bergeron and Lillia Kachelmeyer, who led Greenfield in scoring last year, Greenfield should have the offensive firepower to compete in its league.
“Amber being back is big,” Johnson said. “She’s a key part of our offense. She’s added range to her shot which will help her in the long run. She’s always been good at attacking the rim and that opens things up for everyone else. Lillia will be another starter who will run the floor, score and grab rebounds.”
Josie Cloutier brings senior leadership alongside Kachelmeyer while Carly Blanchard, Anna Bucala, Mackenzie Goncalves, Elderina Cecunjanin and Tayler Bergeron will all be part of the Green Wave rotation.
While Greenfield doesn’t have much size, it plans on making up for that by playing fast and beating teams up and down the court.
“We’re on the shorter side but we want to play fast,” Johnson said. “We have a solid core of players we’ll be rotating through because we want to play fast. We can’t slow things down. We want to be a free flowing offense, let them run and play aggressive defensively. To qualify for states and contend in the league are our goals. We have a solid crew who’s worked really hard this offseason.”
The Senators are another team looking to get in the mix in the Franklin County League North, as they return the majority of their squad from last year.
In his second year coaching at Mahar, Steve Bonk said he’s seeing the work done last year to build a culture carrying over into this season.
“We laid the foundation and changed some things up last year,” Bonk said. “The girls put in the time during AAU and over the summer and fall. I’m very happy with their performance. Hopefully it translates over into the season.”
Kendrah Doane, Mahar’s leading scorer last winter, is back and will be a key cog in the Senator lineup. Sophia Woods, Hayden Comeau, Nevaeh Scribner, Alivia Patch and Astha Bernard are also returning players who will play key roles for Mahar this year.
“We should be able to hang and hold our own this year,” Bonk said. “I’m expecting the team to get in the postseason. It’s a great group of girls. Everyone is working hard and know they need to keep building on the foundation we established last year. Morale is high going into the year.”
Frontier wasn’t the only Recorder area team to lift a league championship trophy last winter.
Turners Falls found its groove last winter, winning 13 games during the regular season to finish in first place in the Franklin County League South.
The Thunder secured the No. 13 seed in the MIAA Div. 5 state tournament, beating Rising Tide in the preliminary round before falling to St. Bernard’s in the Round of 32.
Like the Redhawks, Turners coach Jim Cadran understands every team in the South will be looking to knock his team off this winter. He hopes his team can rise to the high expectations now placed on the program and hold off Athol, Putnam, Pioneer, Smith Academy, Mohawk Trail and Franklin Tech to earn a second straight league title.
“How do we handle the expectations we have going into the year?” Cadran said. “Will we embrace it and say we need to keep playing at this level or do we play at the level we did in other years which wasn’t good enough? I think we’ll embrace those expectations and compete at that high level all year. That’s going to be the key for our season.”
Madi Liimatainen will once again play a key role for the Thunder, running the point this year. Taylor Greene returns and will be relied on as a strong shooter while Lily Spera and Morgan Dobias will be key players down low. Abbi Holloway and Steph Peterson are returning varsity players while Raygan Pendriss, Tatianna Williams and Keira Richardson-Meatty will make the jump from JV to varsity, all expected to have roles this winter.
While the guards scored the majority of the points for Turners last year, Cadran said he’s looking for a more balanced approach this season.
“We were very guard heavy scoring-wise a season ago,” Cadran said. “We want to get our bigs more involved. We want more scoring out of them to be a more balanced team. We want everyone to be involved in the scoring.”
Just a few streets over from Turners Falls High School, Franklin Tech had a successful 2021-22 season and will be looking to build off that this winter.
The Eagles won the state vocational tournament, earned the No. 21 seed in the state tournament and earned a win there, beating North Brookfield in the preliminary round before falling to Palmer in the Round of 32.
“We have a core group of players that helped drive our success return,” Franklin Tech coach Joe Gamache said. “We played great basketball last year. We hope we’ll be competitive in the league again, try to make a return trip to the vocational tournament, state tournament and Western Mass. tournament.”
Kendra Campbell returns to run the point, and Gamache said he’s impressed by her basketball IQ and savvy on the court. Kate Trudeau is a solid defender who can score when called upon.
Hannah Gilbert returns after leading the Eagles in scoring last year while Lea Chapman has made a big jump and has looked good in practice thus far. Jill Crowningshield, Kyra Goodell, Cordelia Guerin, Laken Woodard, Lilly Inman, Hailey Benoit, Madyson Lynde, Kitana Rodriguez, Trinity Doane and Cailin McClure are all players who will be in the Tech rotation.
The Eagles opened their season on Thursday with a win over McCann Tech in the Eagle Holiday Classic, with Gilbert (17) and Campbell (14) leading the scoring in the victory.
Mohawk Trail graduated its two top scorers from a season ago in Mya Lesieur and Stella Clark, and will rely on a team-effort to make up for their lost production.
The Warriors have a small roster of just eight players, with Rachel Pease leading the way at the point guard position. Grace Davenport, Kaylin Sumner, Riley Giard and Bella Pettengill are fellow returners for Mohawk Trail while Bianca Robinson, Payten Tierney and Camryn Thompson are newcomers who will be thrown into action. Warriors coach Kate Grover said she’s stressing versatility with the small numbers on her team.
“Just like last year we’ll be focused on our defense,” Grover said. “That’ll be our strength. We’ll be able to see growth that way if we focus on getting stops. We have such a small team so it’s important the girls are versatile and are able to play spots in the rotation they’re not used to playing. They’ll have to overcome that adversity.”
Kevin Harrington takes over the Pioneer program, which brings back its entire roster from last year.
Harrington — who volunteered with the team last winter — is hoping the chemistry his team gained on the court together last year can carry over into this season.
“We didn’t graduate anyone which is a big piece of the puzzle to having some consistency,” Harrington said. “I want to give them as much info as I can to empower them on the court so they can execute. Building trust is big, hopefully some of that trust built last year can carry over into this season.”
Sofia Walker, Laura Kahler, Whitney Dunklee and Caroline Ring are returning seniors and will be relied on from a leadership standpoint as well as their play on the court.
Hailey Ring and Fota Ndiaye return as juniors while Kyler McClelland and Addie Harrington are young players who figure to find roles this season.
“We know what we’re capable of,” Harrington said. “We might not be the best offensive team and point production will be difficult. We want to be the best defensive team to offset that. We talk about that nightly and know we have to be the most tenacious team out there and have that provide some offensive opportunities for us. Sitting where we were last year at 8-12, we want to make the tournament on our own. That’s a big goal of ours. We’ll do the best we can in our league to present ourself with that opportunity. We want to send the seniors off in style.”
Ross Jensen is another first year head coach, taking over the Athol program this winter.
Emma Bacigalupo returns after leading the Bears in scoring last year and is line for a big season this winter as the lone senior on the Bears roster.
Kylah Blundon is a sophomore who Jensen is excited about and will handle the point guard responsibilities for Athol, while Sam Mailloux and Elizabeth Mailloux are expected to play big roles as well.
“It’s going well so far,” Jensen said. “Being new to the area and new to the girls, we’re acclimating to each other. They picked up a lot in our short time together. They’re doing well and I’m pleased with their effort. We have an opportunity to have some success here. We’re trying to implement a lot of different things. We want to build a team and build the team together.”