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04/04/2019 12:00 AMThe Hand girls’ basketball team easily could have considered this campaign a rebuilding season given its reduced roster and the talent that graduated from the year prior. However, the Tigers refused to take a step back and, instead, built themselves a road to a state final at Mohegan Sun.
Head Coach Tim Tredwell and the Tigers finished the regular season just below .500 at 9-11, but Hand really made its mark in the postseason. First, in the SCC Tournament, No. 13 seed Hand shocked No. 4 seed Mercy with a 47-40 victory in the first round. Hand gave Mercy its earliest exit from the conference draw since 2003, but then dropped a 54-45 decision to No. 5 seed Cross in the quarterfinals.
In the Class L State Tournament, the 19th-seeded Tigers pulled off victories over No. 14 seed RHAM (50-40), No. 30 seed North Haven (68-38), No. 6 seed Pomperaug (58-46), and No. 2 seed Windsor (33-27) to reach the Class L final for the second time in three years. In the final, Hand fought valiantly but ultimately lost a 39-34 contest against No. 4 seed Hillhouse to end up with a 14-13 overall record on the season.
“Our run to the state finals was very special. Losing four starters from 2018 and labeling this season as a rebuilding year puts a certain expectation on how things will go, and that expectation usually doesn’t include a trip to Mohegan Sun,” said Tredwell. “But, as our team survived the bumps and bruises of a challenging regular season, we learned from those experiences, and that helped us put everything together for a magical five-game stretch. It was obviously disappointing to come up short in the final, but the entire experience is something you just can’t recreate. Hopefully we can use this to build towards 2020.”
Tredwell explained that the Tigers recent prominence in the league netted them yet another treacherous regular-season schedule, though that turned out to be a blessing that forced the youthful bunch to quickly take their lumps and learn from them.
“This team matured more in four months than any team I’ve coached in the last ten years. We had more freshmen and sophomores in our rotation than juniors and seniors. So, not only did our young players have to grow up quickly, but our leaders had to learn how to lead, and they had to do it in a hurry,” Tredwell said. “Our schedule was not the type that would allow us to come along gradually, so if we had a rough night, we had to learn from it and hope we could apply those lessons the next night. While our regular season record may not reflect that growth, our performance in the postseason certainly showed that progression.”
Leading the charge was lone senior captain Anna Beccia, who stepped up as a selfless leader who did whatever she had to do on or off the court to set her teammates up for success.
“Anna was our only senior this year and that can be a very difficult situation,” said Coach Tredwell. “She could have entered the season thinking it’s all about her, and she needs to get touches, and she needs to be scoring more, but that’s not what she’s about. She just wanted to do whatever the team needed. Anna’s best work is off the stat sheet, setting hard screens or making the extra pass. We don’t make it back to Mohegan Sun this year without her.”
Joining Beccia were junior co-captains Summer Adams and Sara Wohlgemuth. Both battled through some adversity, but the common theme between the junior duo was that the team always came first.
“Summer came into the season feeling really confident after a very strong offseason, and we were all very excited for what she was going to do in her junior year. A knee injury in the fall put her on the shelf for the first few weeks of the season, and I think that contributed to some of her struggles with consistency. What was most impressive was that, instead of sulking, she used that adversity to get tougher as the season went on,” said Tredwell. “Sara led us in most statistical categories and scored her 1,000th point as a junior. But, I’m not sure there’s anything more important to that kid than winning. She is easily one of the most competitive athletes I’ve ever coached.”
The Tigers’ defining moment of the season came in an impressive postseason debut against Mercy. Hand stumbled a bit heading into the playoff picture, yet the Tigers kicked it into another gear as the stakes rose.
“Our win at Mercy in the opening round of the SCC Tournament was a great moment for our team. We had said all season that if we could keep working hard and stay close, we were going to win one of these games that nobody thought we could win. We finished the regular season having lost four straight,” said Tredwell. “We were playing one of the premier programs in the state. Mercy entered the game playing with a ton of confidence and they had already beaten us twice. We shook off the end of the regular season and focused only on the moment. We played a great 32 minutes.”
For postseason honorees, Wohlgemuth made the All-State Team and All-SCC First Team, in addition to making The New Haven Register’s All-Area squad and New Haven Tap-Off Club All-Area Team.
Tredwell expressed his gratitude for the opportunity to coach a special group and looks forward to the 2019-’20 run. He believes the girls have the talent, tools, and experience to duplicate this magical postseason push.
“Next year’s team has the opportunity to be very good. Seven of our eight rotation players return and each one of them played significant varsity minutes for a team that reached the Class L state final. If our players commit to working hard and improving both mentally and physically this offseason, we could have a lot of fun,” said Tredwell. “The girls become family and, even after 10 years, I still consider myself very fortunate to be in the position I’m in. I hope I’m able to have half the impact on them that they’ve had on me.”
• The Tigers’ roster was comprised of senior captain Anna Beccia; juniors co-captains Sara Wohlgemuth and Summer Adams; sophomores Hadley Houghton, Julia Kuhn, Maddie Thomas, Taya Akers; freshmen Reilly Dolan, Brooke Salutari, and Sophia Coppola.
• In the regular season, Hand earned two victories apiece versus Guilford (47-31 and 37-26), Cheshire (61-52 and 54-32), and Foran (45-34 and 50-39). The Tigers notched single wins against Norwich Free Academy (58-49), Thomaston (54-37), and North Branford (66-46).
• Hand lost two games each against East Haven (59-37 and 59-53), Hamden (69-50 and 65-45), Hillhouse (59-49 and 56-50), Mercy (46-42 and 52-38), and Cross (50-47 and 57-55). The Tigers also lost a single match against New London (64-49).
• This was Tim Tredwell’s 10th season as Hand’s head coach.