It's easy to overlook Hoosac as the growing giant in NEPSAC girls basketball.
The school has not been a prominent program for very long. They're the westernmost team in Class AAA and have one of the more grueling travel schedules in the conference. But under coach Julie McBride, Hoosac has quietly risen into a legitimate contender. They finished sixth in our final NEPSAC Top 10 last winter, coming up short in a dramatic quarterfinal against New Hampton.
"Our mission, and how we run things here and our culture is: We want to play the best, and we don't care who we play against. We just want to give everything that we have," McBride said. "From a school standpoint, though — yes, we have (improved) definitely since my first year here, which was awful, to this year, (and received) just a lot of support from our headmaster and administration in really trying to build our program. So every year, yes, from that standpoint, we felt like we were taking big steps."
If you're searching for dark-horse championship contenders this winter, Hoosac might be the team to watch. Here's why.
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How does Anna Moser follow up her breakout?
Moser, a 5-foot-8 2027 guard, immediately turned heads in her first NEPSAC season. The Rutland, Vt., native averaged 16 points and drained 40 percent of her 3-point attempts, earning a spot on our All-Class AAA Second Team. She quickly emerged as one of the most electric scoring guards in the conference, highlighted by monster games like a 32-point, 8-triple performance against Dexter Southfield. Moser was the primary weapon for McBride because of her remarkable quickness and commitment to moving without the basketball.
With more than 15 offers already from schools highlighted by Syracuse, Boston College, Richmond and Fairfield, Moser is well on her way to Division 1. McBride sees her next step as taking on responsibilities as a lead decision-maker in addition to her scoring punch.
"She gets up the floor so well. She moves without the ball better than anybody at her age," McBride said. "She's just nonstop movement, and that's a great. But at the next level, as she starts to think about what college she's going to go to (and) what level she's going to go to, being a point guard is going to be getting into a rhythm, getting into an offense, knowing when to score, when to set up your teammates up (and) finding mismatches."
Moser can learn more of those lead guard tasks this year after her backcourt partner, Carolina Williams, graduated and moved on to UNH. Williams was the heart of Hoosac's success last season with her motor and vocal leadership. Moser has been quieter in the past, but McBride is watching her step up her communication and take more command of the team.
"With Carolina not being here this year, Anna has really taken the opportunity to be more of a leader and not just go out there and play," she said. "She's helping her teammates more. She's talking to her teammates more."
Uliana "Lee" Doronina flies under the radar
McBride has long claimed that Doronina, a 6-foot-2 wing from Russia, might be the most skilled player on Hoosac's roster. And Doronina showed flashes last year as a starter, helping generate Division 1 interest from schools like Quinnipiac and Middle Tennessee.
But it's also been a challenging two years for Doronina. As other international NEPSAC players can attest, moving to the United States is a difficult cultural change, and eating new foods can be a particular challenge for athletes.
"Food is a big part of not just everyday life, but even to an athlete. So that's something that we've struggled with her a little bit over the last couple years, but she's starting to figure it out," McBride said. "She's maturing. She was 15 years old when she came here. This is a time where kids are just figuring things out and learning about themselves."
Entering Year 3, Doronina seems more confident and more energetic. McBride fully expects her to find college and professional success; Doronina's mom, Olga, is involved coaching the Russian youth national teams. For Doronina, the next step is being more forceful with her advantages in size and skill.
"She's ready to kind of take more of an aggressive position this year," McBride said. "The game is on the line (and) she's creating for somebody else, but we're trying to get her to create for herself a little bit more."
Making new additions fit
Hoosac typically finds success through transfer recruits like Moser, Doronina and others. McBride is at it again and has added impact talent from around the country.
There's Tanavia Turpin, a 5-foot-9 guard and postgrad transfer who averaged a double-double in her senior year at Catholic Central in Latham, N.Y., and who played for McBride in the Albany Capitals AAU program. Joining her and Moser in the backcourt is Sophia Lee, a 2026 transfer and NEPSGBCA All-Star from Storm King. Lee started and showed promising early chemistry with Moser at the NEPSAC Scholastic Showcase in June, and McBride believes she'll admirably fill some of the holes left by Williams' graduation.
"Sophia is just kind of one of those (players) that I know is going to come into the game and just completely change the rhythm by full-court, man-to-man, full pressure. She's going to pretty much do what Carolina did on offense and on defense as well," McBride said.
Hoosac gets another backcourt boost from Liverpool, England's A'Briyah Cunningham, a 5-7, athletic postgrad guard who McBride says can touch the rim. In the frontcourt, 2027 Tabitha Gotsch comes from Friendswood, Tx., as a 6-foot-2 forward with a Division 1 offer from Stephen F. Austin.
That's in addition to returners like 6-3 forward Maggie Bishopp (2026), who holds a Div. 1 offer from Winthrop, and 6-1 wing Teagan Keane (2027), who's drawing interest from Mercyhurst and Marist. Hoosac is loaded with size and college-level talent, and McBride wants to leverage that to continue her theme of physically imposing teams.
"I know one thing: My kids are always going to play hard, and everyone always complains about it, which is completely fine," she said. "We averaged about 27 fouls a game and we will this year, too. We like to play hard, and that's something that, whether we have size or don't have size, it's always going to happen for us."
