Watching a group of players come together as a team like this group did is amazing for a coach. I’m proud of how our team came together this year to compete at a high level.  We played hard every game and practiced even harder to prepare for games.

Our seniors led on and off the court as students and players.  They set goals and took the necessary action steps to make the goals a reality.  The underclassmen on the team made huge contributions to our success as well.  Although we’re a fairly small team with only eleven players, our collective heart was enormous.  Our team chemistry and intensity every single day made the difference in our season.

Our final record was 20 wins and 6 losses.  We were the Northeastern Conference champions for the second year in a row.

We had some individual awards too:

Sophomore center Valentina Pepic – Most Valuable Player in the league

Sophomore guard Pamela Gonzalez – All-Conference Team

Seniors Adanna Hector, Ally Hinojosa, and Maritza Scott

We were a strong offensive team this year and worked hard to control the tempo of the game by focusing on offensive and defensive rebounding.  Our starting five set the tone early and our strong bench players stepped up to keep the momentum going.   Heading into the post-season, we won games against Arlington, Lexington, and number one seed Lowell.

Although our season ended on a disappointing note by losing to Woburn High School in the Division 1 North finals, our mindset all season was to work hard in order to constantly improve and we had done that each and every day.  As a coach, the most important lesson I tried to teach on and off the court was this: how we respond to adversity will determine our success.  During the season, that lesson translates well into games. However, we also talk about how it can be interpreted into the players’ lives after basketball ends.  I hope our four seniors take this lesson with them as they graduate and go out into the world.

Winning games was nice and we’re all proud of that but it’s the hard work during the long hours of practice and time spent together that made the winning happen this year and made the season so meaningful to us all.