DEERFIELD — You’d have to forgive the Deerfield Academy girls basketball team for an extra display of exuberance following Wednesday’s 56-42 win over Franklin County rival Northfield Mount Hermon School.
It was a celebration over a decade in the making.
For the first time in 11 years, the Big Green claimed victory over their neighbors to the north. Deerfield had not defeated NMH in girls basketball since the 2008-09 season, when the Green pulled out a 39-36 victory on Feb. 21, 2009.
Prior to Wednesday’s victory at the Class of 1953 Gymnasium, Deerfield head coach Julie Schloat said she hadn’t been part of a win over NMH in her decade-plus tenure with the varsity program.
“There’s really been a buy-in from everyone on the team this year,” explained Schloat, whose squad improved to a perfect 5-0 on the season with the NEPSAC win. “Everyone is playing a role for us. We had a meeting at the beginning of the season where we talked about, ‘What are the things we can control this season?’ Our theme for the year is “All in, all out” and we’ve really attached to that concept.”
Wednesday’s victory certainly shifted the tides of the DA-NMH rivalry from recent years. Just last season, the Hoggers cruised to a 70-27 win in Gill.
But this year’s Deerfield team is quickly gaining confidence. After a season-opening win against St. Paul’s School, the Big Green followed it up with wins over Lawrenceville, Choate and Buckingham Browne and Nichols School to capture their own holiday tournament title.
One important reason for the success has been the play of postgraduate guard Raegan Hickey of Greenfield. The all-time leading scorer in Greenfield High School girls basketball history, Hickey has been a welcomed surprise for Schloat & Co., showcasing her normal bout of competitive tenacity through the team’s first five games of the season. That was again on display in the win over NMH, as Hickey scored seven of her 10 points in the second half, and also made several key plays that impacted the final period. One par ticular sequence saw Hickey come up with a key block on the defensive end of the floor in the fourth quarter of a 44-37 game, only to have her hit a basket in traffic and draw a foul just seconds later down the other end.
Hickey’s play so far this season has certainly made it difficult for Schloat to take her off the floor.
“It’s such a gift,” began Schloat of gaining Hickey for a postgraduate year. “We’re so lucky to have her. She brings such a competitive edge. When the game gets tight and the stakes go up, she turns it up. That’s something you can’t teach.”
It took Hickey a bit to find her niche on the hardwood this winter. She got off to a late start in preseason when Deerfield’s field hockey team reached the NEPSAC playoffs, forcing her to miss a few days of tryouts.
“I don’t think the coaches knew much about me before the season,” Hickey said following Wednesday’s victory. “I told them I could play wherever and they figured I’d probably get more time at forward to start the year but now I’ve been playing a lot more at guard.”
The win over NMH was a sweet one for Hickey, though she did admit that being a postgraduate student new to the school has her mainly focused on the here and now.
“Everyone was fired up about it but me being new, I don’t know much about the other teams we play so I just try and go out and win every game no matter who it is,” she said.
The Hoggers (1-6) trailed 30-20 at halftime, but climbed back within 46-41 thanks to back-to-back buckets from Angelina Nardolillo and Asha Parker with 2:25 remaining in regulation.
Hickey hit West Springfield’s Angie Czeremcha for a basket to stop the run however, and the Big Green closed the game on a 10-1 run with some good work inside late by Claire Cummings (13 points). Katy Gilbert added 12 points in the win for Deerfield.
Despite the impressive 5-0 start to the season, Schloat is trying to keep her team focused each time out. She does have some help in that department from a familiar face, as former Greenfield High School standout Ashani Petrizzi is the team’s assistant coach. Petrizzi was a star at GHS before graduating in 2005, and she followed that up with a stellar career at Smith College.
“I never want us to get too overconfident,” the DA coach said. “My coaching style, I try to lead with positivity, keep spirits up and so far we’ve had some success. We’re just looking to keep that going.”
DA’s schedule continues on Saturday with a trip to play at Worcester Academy (1 p.m.), while NMH looks to get back on track Saturday at St. Andrew’s School.
■ Elsewhere in DA action from Wednesday, the boys basketball team picked up a solid road victory over Avon Old Farms, 40-39, while the girls hockey team made it a clean sweep for the day with a 1-0 win over Millbrook.