Last year, few teams brought the MIAA postseason fireworks quite like Whitman-Hanson.
The Panthers entered the Division 2 tournament as a No. 13 seed but pulled off a massive second-round upset by stunning fourth-seeded Dartmouth, 40-38, in overtime. Then they pushed fifth-seeded Oliver Ames to the brink in the quarterfinals, losing a gritty defensive contest 33-32. Whitman-Hanson accomplished all this without a single senior on the roster, nearly reaching the semifinals for the first time since 2022.
"To be able to get to within one game of getting back there — I think everybody you know is motivated and is really just looking forward to competing on that stage again," coach Michael Costa said.
The Panthers lost some key players before this year; 6-1 forward Jenna Mishou transferred to Archbishop Williams and Lillie MacKinnon's senior season is in jeopardy as she recovers from a torn ACL. But there's a lot to like from a Patriot League program teeming with upside.
Dylan Hurley takes center stage
Costa expects Hurley, a junior point guard who he labeled a "gym rat," to be among his team's scoring leaders this season.
Hurley appears ready for the role. As a freshman she played mostly off the ball when Whitman-Hanson had senior standout Caitlin Leahy (now at Bridgewater State). Last year, she became the team's table-setter, and though the learning curve was steep, she came on strong towards the end of the season with 15 points in the state tournament against North Quincy and 11 against Dartmouth.
"She's also had to try to learn how to be a point guard, and learn how to be a floor general and try to get her teammates involved, and understand that every take to the basket doesn't have to be a shot," Costa said. "Drawing three people is just as good as you getting the layup if we can get an open shot."
Hurley is quick driving the basketball and consistent shooting behind the arc. Costa believes she had a lot on her plate towards the end of last season that led to fatigue. He wants to find ways to get her easier scoring chances so she doesn't have to shoulder too much.
"I think she's ready to have a really big junior year," Costa said. "But also understanding that she is one of our best scorers, and probably our best shooter too. So that's on me and the staff to try to get her some of those easy opportunities."
Maliah Pierre is on breakout watch
Whitman-Hanson is led by youth again, and Pierre, a 2027 guard, leads the best of the young core. She stood out when the Panthers won their bracket in this summer's Wally Seaver Invitational, showing hustle on the offensive glass and tenacity on defense.
"Anything you throw at Maliah, she can pick up. You show it to her once and she knows, so she's very valuable in that aspect," Costa said. There's a lot of things that we run (where) you gotta have some sort of IQ, so she picked it up really quick, on top of the fact that she can defend anybody on the floor."
Costa inserted Pierre into the starting lineup as a freshman late last season because of her awareness and defense. She's improved her jump shot significantly during the offseason, which should help her in the backcourt alongside Hurley. Pierre's biggest area for improvement: staying out of foul trouble.
"She's extremely athletic, and sometimes that's to her detriment," Costa said. "She made a couple insane blocks last year as a freshman that got called fouls, just because she's able to jump up over people. And same thing with the rebounding — she can just out-jump people, but sometimes that's one of the things that she has to learn, is how to adjust to officiating, because she can pick up fouls."
Aside from Pierre, Costa also expects a strong season from senior forward Taryn Leonard.
Offensive improvement
Whitman-Hanson has built a reputation as a stingy defensive unit, evidenced by its work locking down some of the state's best teams in the postseason. That helped the Panthers go far in the tournament last year, but to reach their ceiling, they'll need to add a scoring punch.
"You look at like the last two postseasons, our losses — we gave up 32 to O-A, we lost. We gave up 36 to Wakefield, we lost," Costa said. "We need to be able to score. That's my shift now is, OK, all right, we got to start generating more offense."
One area Costa is targeting: pace. He said the Panthers averaged six points per game in transition; he'd like that to be around 10. With fast athletes like Hurley and Pierre, a fast-paced attack should be attainable.
"That's the goal this year, is to play faster," Costa said. "But also to understand that we want to go fast, but we don't want to be in a hurry. We want to make sure that we're running hard to score, and if it's not there, then (we're) getting out and getting into our stuff, and getting good shots."
