What does it feel like to have Braintree girls basketball back in the MIAA spotlight?
Coach Kelley Macdonald says she's not quite the town celebrity that Kristen McDonnell, who led Braintree to three state championships in the mid-2010s and who now coaches at Norwood, once was. But during Braintree's remarkable breakout 2024-25 season that culminated in a Division 1 state semifinal appearance, Macdonald noticed the buzz return over time.
"The young girls are interested and back at the games, where that wasn't really happening (before)," Macdonald said. "When the community is behind you, you see a lot more older people start coming to the games and stuff like that. More older people in the town start to recognize who you are and who the girls are and stuff like that, and talk about them. That's when you know you're kind of back, is when the it's from the young to the old people (who) are interested."
After going 21-3 in Macdonald's second year as head coach (she had previously been in the program for two decades as an assistant), what greater heights can the program achieve? Here's the outlook for this winter.
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