Only four schools have made the state semifinals or better in all four years of the MIAA state tournament, spanning all five divisions: Wachusett, St. Mary's, Hoosac Valley and Medfield.
The Warriors, two-time defending champions in Division 2, have been one of the state's true powerhouses this decade, and they'll challenge themselves even further this winter. They're playing in the Londonderry Holiday Basketball Tournament against other premier programs in New England, as well as the Hoophall Classic Invitational for top public high schools, in addition to their typically tough slate in the Tri-Valley League.
"We definitely have the toughest schedule this year that we've ever had," coach Mark Nickerson said. "There's some losses on our schedule, which is fine. I think it would be good for us in getting us prepared for, hopefully, another state championship."
Here's how Medfield is planning its MIAA three-peat.
MORE MIAA PREVIEWS: St. Mary's | North Quincy |Natick | Bishop Feehan | King Philip | Bishop Fenwick
Naya Annigeri remains one of the state's best
It's hard to picture a better portfolio through two seasons of high school. Annigeri has two state titles, two Tri-Valley League MVP awards and a nod on our All-MIAA Second Team in her bag entering junior year. She's been uber-efficient to date; as a sophomore, Annigeri posted 49-39-87 percent shooting splits as part of her 16.8 points, 3.8 steals and 3.2 assists per game. Her new responsibility as a captain won't change much.
"Truthfully, I feel like she's always been somewhat of a leader for us, just through her poise and her play," Nickerson said. "She's an example for people to follow, so I don't think the leadership role of captain is going to be any big adjustment for her. I think players on our team have always kind of looked up to her."
Last year I wondered what Annigeri could do to build on a similarly strong freshman season. She responded by amping up her defensive impact with her length and anticipation without a drop-off on offense. This year, she'll asked to create even more both for herself and her teammates.
"She's developed some strength. She's trying to be able to finish at the basket through contact a little bit better. She's been working on a mid-range game," Nickerson said. "I'd love to see the rest of it stay similar. She's a great perimeter shooter, she's a tremendous defender. She's so quick and surprisingly long — she's always got her hands in the passing lanes. I expect a lot more of the same from her, and I'd like to see her make players around her even better than she's done in the past."
Tess Baacke, Abby Broderick lead a strong wing group
Baacke, a senior and Bowdoin commit, has been the bedrock of Medfield's recent success. Nickerson considers the 5-foot-9 wing his best defender and someone who's tough enough to make up for the roster's overall lack of size and quick enough to still guard in space.
"She was the key to our pressure last year," he said. "We switched up our pressure almost midseason last year — ran a little different 3/4-court press than we've run in the past, and she was unbelievable in it. So I'm looking forward to more of the same of that, and I believe she's an underrated shooter."
She'll have another year playing on the perimeter with Broderick, one of the top MIAA prospects in the 2028 class. Broderick immediately jumped into the starting lineup as a freshman and made an impact with her shooting off the catch and straight-line drives. She's also got a Division 1 scholarship offer already from Rhode Island.
"I think Abby's a special player, and I thought that since she was in sixth grade," Nickerson said. "So this is no surprise to me. I just think she's incredibly underrated right now, and I think people are going to see how good she really is this year."
On the court, Medfield's toughest challenge will be its size, particularly in the frontcourt. The Warriors lost Izzy Kittredge, a 6-foot-1 forward who dominated in last year's state final, when she reclassified and transferred to Nobles. Her size and skill together is irreplacable, but Nickerson expects junior Paige Henebry to lead those stepping up to fill the void. Medfield's swarming press will be even more important in keeping opposing bigs from getting touches.
"I think our pressure can be devastating enough that we can kind of neutralize a little bit of that (lack of size) by getting turnovers in the backcourt and making making those players run up and down the floor a lot," Nickerson said.
Reckoning with a changing landscape
Kittredge's departure for Nobles is obviously a major on-court hit, but it was more shocking to Nickerson because it was one of the first times ever in his program that he had lost a star player to NEPSAC.
Nickerson says he saw the decision was hard for her and tried to be supportive. But it was also a jarring reminder that no MIAA school, even powerhouse programs like Medfield or St. Mary's (which saw Bella Owumi and Lily Norton transfer to Tilton) are safe from the pull of prep.
"I'm starting to feel a little bit like MIAA schools are turning into the G League for the NEPSAC schools, and that's not why I'm here. That's not what I want our program to be about," Nickerson said. "Losing Izzy was kind of an eye-opener for us, because I felt like in a town like Medfield, where we have a really great school system and we have been consistently good and competed for state titles almost every year for the last six or seven years, that we might be above the fray there. And that showed me that we aren't. So it worries me."
So in early September, Nickerson held an atypical captains' meeting with Annigeri, Baacke and Henebry. He asked them: Were they still excited to be in the program? Is Annigeri's promising younger sister, Kameli, excited to join as a freshman?
"I wanted to see if I was missing something," he said. "I wanted to see if, had I become complacent over the last couple of years because things have been going well, and maybe the kids weren't getting the experience that they wanted."
Nickerson often feels he's fighting an uphill battle against prep schools, AAU programs and the growing apparent expectation that elite girls player should be playing in NEPSAC. He's become one of the faces of the push to give MIAA stars a similar experience.
That's highlighted by Nickerson starting the Eastern Mass. Showcase last year — a one-night All-Star game for invited top prospects to place them in front of college coaches. It's expanded to become the Eastern New England Showcase, now including standouts from New Hampshire and Rhode Island, and will take place Nov. 25 at Medfield.
But even that showcase isn't immune. Though it was tremendously successful in Year 1, it had the unintended consequence of giving prep schools a convenient setting to recruit. Nickerson had a parent call him this year, showing excitement about the tournament — because it was a chance to get recruited by NEPSAC.
Nickerson knows that NEPSAC Scholastic Showcases and open gyms are more convenient for Division 1 college coaches to attend. It's not surprising that Kittredge received her first Division 1 offer from UMass barely a month into open gyms at Nobles. He also feels strongly, after talking with his captains, that the public school experience still means a lot. Now he has to find a way to bring the colleges back to MIAA.
"I really do believe wholeheartedly, if I could get these girls Division 1 scholarships out of Medfield, they wouldn't leave," he said. "I guess that sounds stupid because that's kind of obvious, but they want to play for Medfield. I believe that."
