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12/17/2016 11:00 PMA second-half surge catapulted the Guilford girls’ basketball team to a pair of postseason bids last winter. This year, the Indians are aiming to pick up right where they left off with hopes also hosting some playoff battles in 2017.
Head Coach Bob Welsh and the Indians sat at 4-6 halfway through the in 2015-’16 regular season before winning eight of 10 to finish at 12-8. Guilford then reached the SCC Tournament quarterfinals and the second round of the Class L State Tournament, losing to Hand and New London, respectively.
Welsh and company head into the current campaign with a great deal of confidence are looking to use some steady focus, along with an even steadier hand on offense, to attain greater postseason heights. Thus far, Guilford has started out 1-1 with a 56-49 win over Sacred Heart Academy on Dec. 13 and a 59-54 loss to Lyman Hall on Dec. 16.
“On the court, we’d love to make SCCs and states again, so we’d need to get that eighth win. We’d also love to host a game in each tournament, which will probably take 13, 14 wins. That’s a lofty goal, but certainly achievable with this group,” said Welsh, whose squad finished at 14-10 overall last year. “We are full of optimism. We looked sharp in two of our three scrimmages and scored 63 points against East Lyme. We have to keep working and we have some shooters on this team, so we’ll probably see a lot of zone defense and have to knock down outside shots.”
On Opening Night, Sacred Heart Academy relied on some timely shooting to hang around and make a third quarter run that cut Guilford’s lead to 39-36. The Indians followed by going on a run of their own to build a 14-point advantage en route to the seven-point victory. Senior Izzy Nerney knocked down four three-pointers and paced Guilford with 17 points, while junior Amanda King tallied nine points.
Three days later, Guilford jumped out to a 13-8 start against Lyman Hall, but after some cold shooting from the floor, the Indians went to the locker room down 29-25 against a game Trojans’ team. Lyman Hall continued to shoot the ball well and built a 41-31 margin before the Indians mounted a furious comeback and outscored their hosts 22-10 to regain the lead at 53-51. Sabrina Smith, who scored 20 for the game, buried a three to give Lyman Hall the lead, and the Trojans followed with a bucket to extend that lead. Lyman Hall was up 57-54 when Nerney’s three-point attempt rimmed out late in the game. Lyman Hall added one more basket for the 59-54 win. Nerney paced Guilford with 15 points, plus King added 12 points and snared eight rebounds. Molly Linell came off the bench to spark Guilford’s comeback with 10 points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Senior Camryn Craig led the Indians with 10 rebounds.
The Indians boast an awesome trio of captains at each position on the floor behind center Craig, who averaged nine boards and three blocks in the second half last year; along with forward Kayley McLaughlin; and point guard Nerney, who tallied 7.5 points a night and led the team with 32 three-pointers last season.
“All three are doing a great job in providing a lot of leadership,” said Welsh. “Camryn is a post player, who has shown a lot of improvement. She has a great ability to block a shot without getting into foul trouble. Kayley is our best 1-on-1 defender. She’s worked on her shooting the last few years and has a great mid/short-range jumper. Izzy is like having another coach on the floor and she can shoot the three.”
Accompanying that trio on the court are guard/forward King, who’s averaged nine points per game the last two years; along with three underclass athletes who are battling for front court minutes in sophomore forward Janie Danaher and juniors Jordan Hedge (center) and Linell (foward/center); as well as three guards, who are senior Nicole Suchy, plus juniors Julia Hyman and Hannah McDermott.
The Indians are now in a new-look SCC Hammonasset Division with the likes of reigning SCC finalist Mercy, Amity, Branford, and Sacred Heart Academy. Guilford will also entertain longtime rival Hand, in addition to Shelton, North Haven, and Lyman Hall throughout a daunting slate of games this season. Still, Coach Welsh feels that difficult schedule will serve as a great barometer for the Indians and prepare them for any potential postseason pressures.
“We do play a formidable schedule. We pick up Mercy and Amity twice a year, along with our natural rival Hand. We are also in the East Haven Holiday Tournament against Career and then either East Haven or Newington,” said Welsh. “It’s a challenging schedule, but we had a great second half last year, and we are certainly hoping for the same type of run this year.”
This is Welsh’s seventh year at the head-coaching helm for the Indians and he’s joined on his coaching staff by two first-year assistants in varsity assistant/JV coach Alphonse Balzano and freshman coach Alyssa Dunn.