Open gyms are a way for prep school teams to get reps in a scrimmage-like environment while gaining exposure in front of college coaches. However, they're not as effective for player development as practices.
Tilton coach Tara Brisson can't coach her players during open gyms — but she can choose the lineups in advance.
"I never let them make the teams," she said. "I always make the teams, just because it's very specific for me in terms of who I want to see together, and then what matchups I want to see against each other (and) who wins that matchup."
Brisson and the Rams are spending preseason searching for an edge. They're among the elite tier of NEPSAC programs this upcoming season and one of seven schools in the new Class AAA. But despite winning the National Prep School Championship last March and going 28-3, Tilton is still chasing an elusive top-tier NEPSAC championship after losing in the Class AA final two of the last three years.
Brisson believes her team carries significant motivation.
"We have just, 1,000 percent, always embraced the underdog mentality of: You can win as many games (as we did), you can win a National Prep School Championship, and then people still say you're not going to be good enough," she said. "And I think that's motivating for my team just to be like — because we're a small school in northern New Hampshire, we're not going to be at the same level as the Dexter (Southfield) and Nobles and the Tabors of the world?"
Here's what to expect as the Rams try to prove those doubters wrong in 2024-25.
Moving on from Ahnay Adams
The Rams graduated two high-impact seniors in Ahnay Adams (now at Miami) and Sophia LeGoullon (William and Mary). Adams (New Bedford, Mass.) in particular is a significant departure.
The 5-foot-6 point guard won three consecutive New Hampshire Gatorade Player of the Year awards and was named Class AA Player of the Year last winter. Adams set the tone on both ends with her relentless attacking mentality. When the Rams needed to de-clog the offense, they often went to 'Open,' a 5-out set that simply asked Adams to beat her defender on a drive and make a play out of it.
FEATURE STORY: ‘Just be different than me’: How Ahnay Adams — and her mom — charted a new path
Brisson can't replace Adams directly. But between some new players on the roster (more in a moment) and some stylistic, she believes Tilton can avoid a step back. She stressed the importance of having multiple ball-handlers to share the load, though that may take time.
"It will be really important for a variety of different reasons — building individual confidence in them as ball-handlers, but also for our team," Brisson said. "I think a lot of that is, maybe in the beginning, we're much more structured than we are (playing with) freedom, right? Just so in those situations where it's end of shot clock or we need a quick score, I don't have to call a timeout and draw something up. You can go to a quick-hitter where we're going to get some sort of movement because it's structured, and we're going to put people in a position where they can have success scoring."
The overall roster, however, includes many of last year's contributors. Winning the National Prep School Championship in mid-March after losing to Nobles in the Class AA title game weeks earlier reignited the belief that the Rams can succeed in those pressure-packed games.
"To play them at a neutral site and gain back that confidence — to know that in the big games and the big moments, we can do it — that was super helpful and has totally carried over to this season," she said.
Colleen Phiri and Bela Cucuta pack a scoring punch
Phiri (Haverhill, Mass.), an All-NEPSAC selection who committed to Colgate in early October, is the top returner. The 5-foot-11 forward flies under the radar as a scorer despite putting up 18.6 points per game last season.
"Ahnay, she brought a lot of attention to herself, and she was a pretty flashy and prolific player," Brisson said. "So that's who people's focus was on mostly, and then it was like, 'Oh, and by the way, and Colleen had 22 points.'"
Without Adams, the ball will move through Phiri a lot more, and defenses will be ready. Phiri has the tools; though shorter for her position, she has a crafty handle, can shoot 3s and is physically imposing with her size and strength. Brisson wants to coach Phiri to be ready for opponents who treat her as the top scoring option.
"If you have a bigger kid on you, they're probably going to have slower feet, so attack them, right? And then if you have a smaller kid on you, I would love for you to play with your back to the basket and really hunt that paint and post them up," she said. "So it's just her recognizing what her matchup looks like and being able to expose whatever they're trying to do defensively against her."
Brisson is excited about the tandem potential of Phiri and Cucuta (Newington, Conn.), a 2026 transfer point guard who wowed in the CIAC at Newington. In some ways, Cucuta is almost the opposite of Adams. She's not the explosive power driver Adams was, but Cucuta can crush defenses with her limitless shooting range and pull-up scoring.
"She's going to be jammed a lot more at the 3-point line than someone like an Ahnay was," Brisson said. "You've got to think it's the opposite, and teams were terrified that an Ahnay was going to get into the paint, because she could anytime she wanted, so they would give her a step and gave her that space to take that shot. Whereas with Bella, you're not giving her that space, because she will knock that down every single time. So you're going to jam her a little bit more on that, and then she's going to really show you what she can do in terms of creating off the dribble and then getting other people involved."
MORE NEPSAC AAA PREVIEWS: Nobles | New Hampton | Dexter Southfield
Championship-level depth?
Past NEPSAC AA champions like Tabor and Nobles won with deep, stacked rotations. Tilton was close with a capable unit last year and believes it has that type of depth this winter.
Around Phiri and Cucuta are a group of strong seniors in Northeastern commit Lindsey Lemay (Barrington, R.I.), Hannah Lynch (Nashua, N.H.), Tish Blackwood (Falmouth, Mass.) and Michelle Azzun (Lynnfield, Mass.). Brooke Golden (Chester, N.H.), a 6-foot-3 junior forward, gives the Rams much-needed size in the paint. Bedford, N.H. transfer Lyla Stein and 2027 guard Story Victory Moore should boost the backcourt depth.
One rotation player ready for a leap? It could be 2026 guard Maddie McCaffery (Merrimack, N.H.), who bolster's Tilton's cast of stellar shooters.
"She's a knockdown shooter, so if I can really get her going, and you have someone like Bela, and you can put Maddie in one corner, Colleen is your trail, Lindsay's in the other corner — how are you going to guard that?" Brisson said.
Does Tilton have the depth to beat out the other NEPSAC powerhouses? We'll see — but Brisson likes their odds.
"We have a really, really good shot of doing something special with this roster," she said.
