If you checked in on the Worcester Academy girls basketball team midway through last winter, you'd see a 5-8 squad going through the expected growing pains adjusting to its third head coach in three years.
But then a switch flipped — and after going 17-2 the rest of the way and soaring to a NEPSAC Class AA championship, the Hilltoppers are brimming with confidence as they prepare for an encore. Coach Dan Sullivan had never coached in girls basketball after moving over from the Worcester Academy boys team. He now has a better frame of reference for what to expect.
"Last year, I had no barometer whatsoever for who was really good, who would do really well in the winter," he said. "Some days, some open gyms, it was like, 'Hey, we're going to be great,' And some days it was like, 'Hey, I'm not really sure,' because I had never really seen up close the the girls season all the way through. So me having just a year of exposure to see all the players, and all the teams and all the coaches in the league, and NEPSAC in general, is just reassuring to me."
Here's how the Hilltoppers are shaping up for this winter.
