Dexter Southfield came up a point shy of making the NEPSAC Class AA final last year, losing 50-49 to Nobles on crunch-time heroics from Christina Pham.
In some ways, making it that far and pushing a powerhouse Bulldogs team to the brink was exceeding expectations. Dexter was starting an eighth-grader and a freshman in that semifinal. They won't be surprising anyone this year.
Massachusetts Gatorade Player of the Year Orlagh Gormley (Quincy, Mass.) is off to Providence and starting forward Gabby Middleton (Stoughton, Mass.) transferred to Newman. But most of the roster is back, plus some big-time transfers.
"I think we just proved to everyone that age doesn't matter," forward Brooke Nunnally-Gardner said. "We came in here and got all the way to the semifinals with a young team, and our young ones stepped up."