Can the Franklin County League get a team back to Curry Hicks Cage this season? Mahar Regional School and Greenfield High School both hope the answer is yes.
The Senators and Green Wave are the preseason favorites to win their respective leagues — Mahar in the FCL North, Greenfield in the FCL South — but there are plenty of other teams that should have a legitimate chance to contend come playoff time.
With four players capable of scoring in double figures on any given night, the Senators are the favorites to win the North, although two-time defending champion Athol High School might not agree with that. Frontier Regional School has a new coach in former boys’ leader Marty Sanderson, and he has a roster that should also be in contention, and Hopkins Academy brings back enough to make a run at the postseason. Easthampton High School may still be a year away.
In the South, Greenfield cruised to the league title and there’s no reason to think the Wave won’t repeat as it returns all but one starter. Pioneer Valley Regional and Turners Falls High schools both tied for second and neither of those programs figures to take a step back as each returns most of their teams from a year ago. Smith Academy and Mohawk Trail Regional High School are two teams looking to rise into the conversation as contenders in the league.
Here’s a closer look at both leagues:
Athol (12-9)
The Red Raiders have enjoyed a lot of success over the past decade.
They have won five titles and finished second in the North three times in the past 10 years. Most importantly, they’ve qualified for the WMass tournament each of those seasons. Athol comes into the season off its most recent FCL North Division title and its 11th consecutive tournament appearance. That ended in the first round with a 52-43 loss to Mt. Greylock Regional School.
There are a lot of new faces on the Red Raiders this season, including at the head coaching spot, as former coach Dan Bevis moved over to the boys’ job this season and is replaced by Amber Parker, who also coaches the girls’ volleyball team at Athol. She inherits a roster also in transition, with just two players with varsity experience back.
Another problem plaguing the program is a lack of numbers. Parker currently has just eight players on varsity because there are just 15 players in the program, which leaves seven players on junior varsity.
As if that isn’t enough to overcome, the Red Raiders also lack anything in the way of height. In fact, the tallest player on the team is their point guard, Hope Parker.
Parker will be called upon to be a leader from the point, tasked with bringing the ball up the court and leading the club in scoring. The senior was second on the team in scoring last season with 9.7 points per game. She is joined in the starting rotation by classmate Julia Carey, the only other returning player with varsity experience. Last season the forward was third on the team in scoring with 7.7 points per game.
Senior Jess Soucie will start at center, while juniors Destiny Wrigley and Amber Mahony will each start at guard. Senior Hannah Arsenault and junior Peyton Parker are reserve forwards, and freshman Taylor Cleveland is a reserve center.
“These girls are fast and play with heart,” Parker said. “Their work ethic has been great, and we just need to get better every night.”
Frontier (8-12)
Sanderson makes his return to coaching as he steps out of retirement to take over the head job at Frontier this season. The longtime Frontier boys’ coach last stood on the sidelines in 2009-10.
He said that returning has not been too difficult.
“It’s been kind of an easy transition, we are trying to install the same system we ran for the boys,” Sanderson, who is also the school’s athletic director, said. “The kids have been working really hard and they are trying to do what we ask of them.”
Sanderson inherits a team that finished two wins away from qualifying for the WMass tournament, which means their tournament drought now stretches three seasons.
One thing the Hawks lacked last season was a go-to scorer. The club liked to spread the ball around and finished with seven players averaging between 4.6 and 7.7 points per game. Jordyn Roberts, who graduated, led the team with 7.7 points per game.
The good news for Sanderson is that of those seven players, four return, and he has a freshman guard in Marie Diemand who saw time as an eighth-grader late in the season and will start this year. She led the Red Hawks with 16 points during Friday’s season-opening win over Mohawk.
The other starting guard is junior Ella Deane, who averaged 7.2 points per game last season to finish second on the team in scoring. Senior Lisa Portier, who averaged 5.4 points per game, will start at forward, classmate Sarah Meunier will start at the other forward, and junior Lexa Boyden, who averaged 6 points a game, will start at center.
“We’re pretty young in our backcourt, definitely have more experience up front,” Sanderson said. “Even though we are young in the back, those kids have been playing basketball with AAU and what not.”
Senior Helena Diaz will see plenty of time at center after scoring 4.7 points per game last season. She will be joined up front by classmates Jasmyne Ostrowski (another backup center), and forwards Lauren Adams and Morgan Fuller. Freshman Tori Speth is a newcomer up front.
The other two reserve guards are sophomore Ariana Walker and freshman Kate Hickey.
“From what we’ve seen, we need to do a better job taking care of the ball and finishing, putting the ball in the basket,” Sanderson concluded. “I think offensively, we are struggling a little with those things. Hopefully, as the season goes along, we will improve there. We are going to have to rely on our defense early in the season, because that’s something we can bring every night.”
Mahar (11-10)
The good news for Mahar coming into this season is that everyone is healthy.
That might be something most teams take for granted but not Senators’ coach Larry Fisher, who was missing three players for all of last season due to knee injuries. Two of those players — seniors Kenzie Tenney and Cassie Verheyen — are two of the leading scorers on the team.
The fact that Mahar qualified for the postseason was a tribute to its depth. Despite the loss of do-all guard Ally Parker from a season ago, the team returns a good portion of that depth and is a solid favorite to win the North.
Both Tenney and Verheyen jump right back into the starting lineup this season. Tenney, who averaged 8 points per game as a sophomore, will play a forward spot, while Verheyen, who averaged 9.2 points per game as a sophomore, will start at center. They will be joined up front by junior Kianna Reilly.
The starting backcourt features senior Kadie Jillson and junior Hannah Paul and those two may make up the best backcourt in the league. Jillson led the team in scoring last season with 11 points per game, while Paul doubled her offensive output, raising her scoring average from 5 points as a freshman to 10.4 last winter. Fisher said he would like to see the continued growth out of Paul, especially with the departure of Parker.
“She is going to have to have more responsibility,” he explained. “She needs to be more in the scoring column.”
Senior Jordan Martin and sophomore Abby Bonk will serve as reserve guards, while junior Sam Rowe and sophomores Jasmine Vautour and Victoria Tenney (who also missed last season with a knee injury), are reserve forwards. Junior Maeve Powell is a reserve center.
“It’s going to take some time for the girls who missed last season to get up to full strength, but we want to do well in the league and make tournament,” Fisher said.
Easthampton (1-17)
Easthampton struggled to just one win last season.
The good news for the Eagles is that they welcome back coach Michelle Dailey for her second season after the team was a bit in flux prior to that. With the passing of former coach Jay Fortier, who took the team to its last WMass tournament appearance in 2013, and then having two new coaches in two years.
Dailey stepped in to a team last season that did not bring back much in the way of scoring and it showed, as the team finished at the bottom of the FCL North for the second straight year.
Dailey does not have it much easier this year, as she lost her top three scorers from a year ago and returns just one starter, senior forward Samantha Garcia, who averaged 7.1 points per game a year ago. The good news is that Dailey does return seven players who played on varsity last winter, which includes four seniors and three seasoned sophomores. The team also gets some newcomers, including a pair of freshmen, as the team works to rebuild.
Senior returnees Andi Hall, Karina Volpe, Juli Korza and Lisa Sikop are all guards, although Sikop will also see time at forward. The three sophomores back are Molly Hancock (guard), Val Murphy (center) and Lily Peoli (forward/center).
Srey Pek is new to the team and will see time at guard, while juniors Emma Blomstrom (guard) and Amber Mutevelic (forward/center) are also new. Lauren Copeland (forward) and Rachael Robinson (guard) are two freshmen newcomers.
Hopkins (6-12)
Hopkins finished with just six wins during the regular season last winter but because the Division IV Golden Hawks play a schedule heavy on Division III teams, they were able to qualify for the postseason under the 70 percent rule. They were bounced in the first round by Putnam, but the team is a perennial postseason contender and should be right back in the hunt this winter.
The Golden Hawks return all but two seniors who graduated. There was one other key departure as leading scorer Erin Tudryn transferred to Deerfield Academy, but coach Fred Ciaglo should have enough numbers to make a run at another postseason berth.
The three returning starters are all capable of putting the ball in the basket and two are still only a sophomore and a freshman, so the team figures to only get better in coming seasons.
Forward Ally Jenks will provide leadership as the only returning senior after scoring 7.2 points per game. Sophomore Samantha Jenks is the top returning scorer (8.6 ppg). Freshman Allison Kowal-Safron (5.5 ppg) is the other starting guard.
Hopkins also welcomes back five other players who are all capable scorers. Juniors Leah Picard and Ali Stevens are both guards, while sophomore Kiernan Wackerbarth is a forward. Freshmen Thea Hanscom is a guard, and Gabby Palmisano is a forward.
Lauren Sieracki is an incoming senior forward, and sophomore A.J. Mitchell joins the varsity team as another reserve forward.
Greenfield (19-2)
This could be the year that Greenfield makes the leap into the upper echelon of girls’ basketball teams.
It has been a while since the Green Wave made it to Curry Hicks Cage in Amherst and that is at the forefront of the Green Wave’s goals this year. It has been a building process for the team, which qualified for the WMass tournament two years ago for the first time in a decade, and then went 19-1 in the regular season last year en route to winning the division and once again qualifying for the postseason.
Greenfield is still looking for a postseason win, as it was dispatched by WMass runner-up Drury High School, 47-36, in the quarterfinals. Fifth-year coach John Hickey said one way he is trying to prepare his team for the rigors of the postseason is by playing a tougher schedule, something he didn’t do last season because he didn’t know how good the team was going to be. With nearly everyone back and many key contributors still underclassmen, he figured this year was the right time to challenge them. With that in mind, he accepted an invitation to play in the Hoosac Valley Holiday Tournament, which pitted the Green Wave against the defending champion and preseason favorite Hurricanes. Greenfield also faces Mahar, as well as Auburn and Westfield high schools in independent games.
“We are playing four tough independent games to prepare us for tournament,” Hickey explained. “Last year, I didn’t know where we were and I was afraid that a big loss might crush our progress. This year, we lost by 41 points to Hoosac in our opener, and it didn’t crush us. It woke us up.”
Offensively, the Wave will be led by the sophomore tandem of Raegan Hickey and Samantha Smith, and senior Molley Duclos. All three should average in double figures this season. Hickey led the Wave with 14.6 points per game last season and returns to play point guard, where she continues to improve.
“She does a good job of making people around her better,” her father and coach said. “I actually have to get on her to shoot more, not that that’s a bad thing.”
Duclos was second on the team in scoring at 10.6 points per game last winter from the center position, and she is joined up front by Smith, who averaged 7.6 points and will raise that number as she continues to realize her potential, according to Hickey.
Hickey also said that no starting lineup is set in stone and that he will use nine players regularly during the season, and has seven who could start “depending on who they’re playing.”
Grace Kennedy is the other senior on the team and she is in the mix to start at guard, and junior Kirsten Ward is a forward who averaged 5.7 points per game. Junior Elizabeth Howland is another forward who averaged 6.2 points per game.
As for reserve guards, eighth-grader Katie Haselton is playing well and could compete for time off the bench. Juniors Jenna Silk and Leah Bosco will each see solid minutes off the bench, while junior Chloe Wells and sophomore Kailee Stovall will see some time.
Mohawk (3-17)
Mohawk is looking to rebound after a difficult winter in 2015-16 that saw the Warriors win just three games.
Mohawk’s biggest issue of late has been its ability to keep pace with opposing teams. While the defense has played relatively well, the offense struggles to get out of the 30s. Last winter the Warriors broke 40 points just three times, and twice came against Pope Francis High School.
“Because we lack a player that fits the ‘superstar’ title, we plan to epitomize what it means to play basketball as a team and spread the scoring across the board,” second-year coach Larissa Miner said.
Mohawk has just one senior in guard Hayley Lowell, who averaged 3.5 points per game last season. Junior forward Emma Poplawski is the team’s leading scorer after netting 7.9 points per game last winter. The junior class is heavy at guard as Emma Reid, Ashley Walker, Mikayla Bompastore, Mackenzi Coulombe and Ashley Reynolds will all see time, with Coulombe and Reynolds also possibilities up front.
Sophomore Morgan Roccio and freshman Grace Poplawski are both reserve forwards.
“I am really excited to work with the group I have this season,” Miner concluded. “There is a mix of experience levels on our team, and I believe that with their heart and drive we are capable of becoming a cohesive team and potentially go far.”
Pioneer (10-12)
Pioneer did have its two-year reign as FCL South champs snapped last season, but the Panthers played their way into the postseason. They beat Turners Falls in the regular-season finale last winter to tie the Indians for second in the South and earn a berth in the tournament. The two teams then matched up again in the opening round and the Panthers came away with another win. They were ousted by top-seeded Ware High School in the quarterfinals.
Pioneer lost just two players from a year ago, and only one starter, and comes into this season with six seniors who will lead the team. Coach Meg Burrington also has two sophomores and two freshmen on the team, as well as a 1-month-old baby, Isabelle Margaret Burrington, who was born on Thanksgiving morning. That should keep her up at night and give her plenty of time to game plan.
Other than the newborn, the biggest reason she may lose sleep at night is trying to find some extra scoring other than senior forward Caroline Merkle and guard Jess Scoville. Merkle led the Panthers with 9.9 points per game last season, and Scoville averaged 8.5.
There are players capable of putting the ball in the basket, including senior guard Briana Jobst, who averaged over 6 a game, and senior guard Maddy Tyson, who averaged 5.9 through seven games before she was lost to a knee injury. With Tyson back, Burrington has an option to score and another option to bring the ball up the court.
“There were some nights that we had someone score 10 to 15 points who typically didn’t, and that makes it difficult to defend our team,” Burrington said. “We have a solid group of seniors who have been in this program for years, and we hope to get a few more wins this year.”
Another player to keep an eye on is sophomore forward Olivia Rowe, who split time last season but still averaged over 3 points a game as a freshman. Senior Alexus Vergobbe is a reserve forward, and senior Amelia Marchand joins sophomore Autumn Flagg and freshman Steph Scoville as players who can play both guard and forward. Freshman Abby Briggs is a reserve guard.
Turners Falls (10-11)
The drought is over in Turners Falls.
The Indians laid a 21-year postseason-less drought to rest last winter when they went 10-10 and finished tied for second in the South. They faced the team they tied for second in the South — Pioneer — in the postseason and suffered a 42-35 loss, so coach Ted Wilcox knows the building project is still ongoing.
“This is my fourth year and I started when many of these girls were in eighth grade,” Wilcox said. “They are putting in the time, they are putting in the effort. They are playing summer league, fall league and we now have players playing AAU. They are ready to take the next step. They are determined to.”
Wilcox still does not have a senior on his roster, but he does have a lot of juniors with experience.
Wilcox expects the scoring to be a bit more balanced this season after junior Maddy Chmyzinski did the bulk of the scoring last winter. The Indians’ guard scored 19.4 points per game last winter and is only just realizing her potential, according to her coach.
“I think she is going to be even better this year,” Wilcox said. “I think that Maddy has learned — and again this comes with maturity — that the more she involves the rest of the team, the easier it’s going to be for her. She is getting other people involved and that is only going to help her.”
One player who should see her offensive numbers rise is junior guard Aliyah Sanders, who was second on the team in scoring with 5.7 points per game. Junior Chloe Ellis is back at forward after averaging 4.2 points per game last year, and classmate Kylie Fleming is another key contributor, especially on the defensive end.
Juniors Emma Miner and Abby Loynd are two other players to watch up front, and they are joined by classmate Tabi Hamilton, freshmen Hailey Bogusz and Dabney Rollins, sophomore Sarah Waldron and eighth-grader Gabby Castagna up front. Freshman Lucy Spena is a reserve center.
Sophomore Lexi Lacey and freshman Eliza Johnson are reserve guards.
Smith Academy (9-11)
Smith Academy missed the tournament for the second consecutive season last winter, coming one win short.
Coach Fran LaFond lost three seniors, including a pair of starters, and he enters the season with a relatively young team but one that knows the game.
Smith Academy does return a pair of experienced starters including senior Olivia Cavanaugh (6.8 ppg), who can play both guard and forward. She also worked on her 3-point shooting in the offseason and could be even more dangerous this winter.
The other returnee is junior guard/forward Hannah Rickert (3.5 ppg).
The Falcons have a number of youngsters back, including sophomore Victoria Smiarowski, who can play guard and forward, and freshman guard Maggie Hession, who should both be impact players. Juniors Vanessa Skawski and Mary Whalen both return and will play up front.
Newbies include sophomore Teaghan Cavanaugh (guard/forward), freshmen Erin Gilrein (guard/forward) and Karlie Guimond (guard), and eighth-grader Emma Kelly (center).