If you want to understand the difference a year makes for Wachusett, just check in on their first day of tryouts.
Last year, when the Mountaineers started things with their routine Kansas full-court scoring drill, "it was just so incredibly bad, I almost fainted," coach Jim Oxford recalls. This time, following a stunning season that resulted in the program's first-ever state championship, the returning squad was back around his preseason standards in the exercise. Throughout their first tryout, the Mountaineers exuded a swagger that matches their preseason reputation as an MIAA juggernaut.
"I saw in them tonight a strong sense of confidence that I did not see last season at tryouts, and I think that was because they're winners now," he said. "So while they still may hang on to some of that lightheartedness that they approach life and practice with, there's a real serious side to them that's built on the confidence that they've earned."
Practically everyone expects Wachusett to repeat as Division 1 champs. They're in the conversation for best public school team in New England this winter. Here's why.
MORE DIVISION 1 PREVIEWS: Braintree |Natick | Bishop Feehan | King Philip
Can Jae Scott still reach another level?
Scott captured our first MIAA Player of the Year award with a dominant junior season, averaging 20.1 points, 10.2 rebounds and 2.1 blocks. She then shined with the Bay State Jaguars on the AAU circuit and ultimately locked down her Division 1 commitment to Tulsa this fall. At the high school level, Scott is as close to a do-it-all star as you'll find. Most coaches picked her as the state's top talent in our offseason coaches' survey.
Is there anything left for her to prove on the court? Oxford expects Scott more 3-pointers this winter, where she's proficient already. He also wants to keep growing her inside presence as a scorer, where Scott's touch around the basket and length set her apart.
"You really can't stop her on the inside," Oxford said. "There's not a single kid — I don't even know if there's a lot of kids in prep school that can stop her. She's just too physically gifted."
Perhaps the most significant development comes from Scott's voice. She's always been a more shy player, but Scott started to become more vocal as her confidence grew last winter. When Oxford spoke after Monday's tryouts, he raved about what he saw from Scott as a senior captain.
"I think she's approaching the pinnacle of her journey in high school with leadership, because she was very vocal tonight," he said. "Last season, she had very vocal moments, but tonight she was leading. She was instructing younger kids (on) what to do. We have this thing in our gym whenever we run drills: if you're not in the drill working, you're on the sideline clapping your hands and cheering on your teammates. And she was calling players out to clap and to cheer and to get excited about being here, and that just wasn't where Jae was last season."
Why Sophie Gibbons and Teegan Lanpher work so well
Oxford calls Gibbons and Lanpher the best backcourt in the state, and it's tough to argue. The two younger sisters of program greats Mary Gibbons and Belle Lanpher were thrust into starting roles last season and aced their tests.
Gibbons in particular was quickly following the stardom of her older sister, who had dominated the year before and now plays at Navy. Oxford said the senior 5-foot-6 point guard handled the transition admirably and deserves to be recognized as a star Mountaineer in her own right.
"Sophie's one of the smartest basketball players I've ever coached," he said. "There can be no better point guard than Sophie in terms of what the coach expects and what her role is in accomplishing what my expectations are. She understands pace, she understands flow of the game. She understands when she needs to shoot (and) when she needs to get more teammates involved. She's a tremendous basketball player."
Lanpher, a junior, turned heads with her quickness and defensive hustle despite her 5-foot-3 size, even landing on our All-MIAA Third Team. If her Eastern New England Showcase performance is any indication, Lanpher should wreak havoc as a scoring guard again this season while leading the Wachusett perimeter defense.
With the two of them back, Oxford also expects to unpack more of Wachusett's offensive playbook after they have a year of experience running it.
"Our basic offense is a really good offense that that my assistant coach Rusty (Dillon) and I have created but we only really peeled off the first couple of layers last season," he said. We're going to just peel off three or four more layers this season, because we think they can handle it."
Kyla Yurkus leads the next young wave
Oxford is obviously excited about his star trio, but he frequently lauded the depth that's returning and joining the program. It begins with Kyla Yurkus, a 6-foot-1 center who started on last year's title team. Yurkus made a legitimate impact as a freshman with her size, scoring touch around the basket and mid-range and consistent work as a rebounder. Oxford says she's added significant muscle in the offseason.
"We are looking for her to begin to be more assertive with the basketball on the inside — that when she has height advantages and size advantages, to power up and try to go for and-1's, not to necessarily dish the ball out," he said.
Wachusett graduated one starter and one bench contributor. Sharpshooter Hannah Quinn and forward Ruthie Marcel will play key roles in the rotation. Beyond them, Oxford is glowing about the guard depth — namely sophomore Lucy Gibbons and freshman Mya Maziarz.
"I think we're better than we were last year. We're certainly deeper," Oxford said.
And that should scare the rest of the MIAA.
