By John Devereaux
WABC Liaison
With winter sports than a month away, the Westford Academy Girls’ Basketball team is starting to make their way back to the top of the WA sports world. After an impressive season last year going all the way to the finals, only to lose against Braintree by a score of 57-46.
Last year’s seniors have left, including Samantha Hyslip and Hannah Hackley who each broke the 1,000 point mark. As the season approaches the new captains who consists of senior Morgan Ross and junior Karly Bigham try to make their mark this season.
When asked about playing alongside last year’s seniors, both captains said that it had a great impact. They described their time on the team with them as a good experience. Coach Russell Coward agreed with this years captains as he too said that the six seniors last year contributed a great impact to those on the team.
“They were helpful because they showed the team dedication and hard work,” said Ross.
During last year’s amazing run, the team had a few outstanding wins. These wins included Central Catholic during the Christmas tournament. This was a big win because Central Catholic had knocked them out of the playoffs the past two years. Another key win was against Algonquin during their run. Coward mentioned this as a big win not only because it was an overtime thriller, but because the same team had beaten them during the season.
Some key losses from last year were Algonquin and Fenway. These were tough losses to the team, and Coward is taking those loses from last year and is implementing new strategies to this year’s team.
Looking into this year’s season Coward has new plans both on offense and defense. He explained that their whole defense will changed,and most of the offense will be new, to surround and highlight the abilities of this year’s team.
This year’s captains have one simple goal for this upcoming year. The goal is to win as many games as possible. Coward has similar goals. He wants to reach the playoffs, and would be disappointed if they don’t make. Coward is also aiming for the DCLs again. He said that going far in the DCLs is a stretch but he continuously mentioned that this team is going to be very competitive.
“Personally, I feel like I learned to give more decision making to the players,” said Coward.
He said that instead of him solely running the team’s offense and defense, that he has gained trust in his players and will do the same this year. Coward feels that other teams will most likely be over confident against WA after losing last years seniors. He said that they shouldn’t be overconfident because this year’s team is still competitive, and will be enjoyable to watch throughout the year.
