WESTFIELD – One year ago, the St. Mary’s High School girls basketball team had the region abuzz with a 10-game win streak to begin the season. The Saints were unbeaten through the first half of the season before suffering a narrow 3-point loss to the Mohawk Trail Warriors.
St. Mary’s earned the fifth seed in the Pioneer Valley Interscholastic Athletic Conference Class C Girls Basketball tournament, landing a quarterfinal game against No. 4 Palmer. The Saints came out strong in that game, building a 13-6 lead before eventually falling to the Panthers and 1,000-point scorer Madalyn Theriault.
Paige Hutkoski, who finished with a game-high 21 points in the quarterfinals, will headline a solid cast of returning players – only one senior (Alison Goodreau) graduated last spring – for St. Mary’s. Saints seniors Amelia Willenborg and Catie Seklecki also return.
“With the pieces we have, we’re going to play it game by game, see how we do in our division and go from there,” St. Mary’s girls basketball coach Rodney Rodriguez said. “If everyone stays healthy, we should have the same success in our division, and hopefully get into Western Mass and states.”
With another mostly young group, the Saints head coach said “team bonding” will be one of their biggest keys to success.
“We’re going to work together a little more and get better,” coach Rodriguez said. “Thanksgiving is over. Now we’re going to dive in and hopefully start our first game with success and go from there.”
The St. Mary’s girls basketball team tips off Tuesday, December 13 against Baystate Academy Charter Public School at Westfield Intermediate School on Southampton Road at 6:30 p.m. The Saints boys hoops team begins its 2022-23 campaign Monday, December 12 at Ludlow High School. Tip-off is at 7 p.m.
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