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04/05/2018 12:00 AMWhen Sabrina LeMere graduated and longtime Head Coach Chris Webster stepped down following the 2015-’16 season, the North Branford girls’ basketball was without two key pieces to its program—a point guard and a head coach. Courtney Manciero stepped in to take the coaching duties last year, and Marie Zampano stepped up to play the point-guard position for the past two years. Marie helped the Thunderbirds make the playoffs in both seasons and served as a senior captain this winter.
“I got thrown into it last year. It was a hard adjustment, but I worked hard to get better at it. Thankfully, [Coach Manciero] helped me at that,” says Marie of playing point guard. “Sabrina taught me how to read the court really well. Toward the end of her senior season, a starter got hurt, and I had to step in. Other teams doubled her, so I was forced to be the point guard. She gave me a lot of confidence and helped me pick up her methods.”
Marie says she struggled dealing with press coverage from opposing defenses early on as a point guard. However, she came into her senior year with a different mindset and started making the plays that allowed the T-Birds to succeed on a more consistent basis.
“In the beginning...if nobody was open, I’d overthink everything and have the ball taken away from me. At the end of my junior year, I decided I’m not going to let that happen anymore,” Marie says. “This year, I came in with confidence. After working so hard in the offseason, I was able to get the ball where it needed to be. The work definitely paid off.”
Coach Manciero says that she trusted Marie to make the right decision whenever she had the ball in her hands. She also notes that Marie started shooting the ball more as the season went on and did so with positive results.
“She’s the only one who could handle close defensive pressure, maintain possession of the ball, and still run our plays. I have a bunch of athletes on my team, but most of them get really excited under pressure and try to make highlight-reel plays and end up turning the ball over for a fast-break layup instead,” Manciero says. “She was very unselfish at the start of the season, which ended up hurting us, because she’s actually a very good shooter. The second half of the season, she made herself more of a scoring option and started hitting 3-pointers, which made it a lot harder for teams to stay in a zone against us.”
Marie put in some serious offseason work at the basketball camp Point Guard College, and the experience sharpened both her fundamental skills and basketball IQ. Marie put those attributes to good use when she led North Branford as a senior captain this year.
“I loved being a captain. I feel like I gave the underclassmen a person to look up to. I definitely made a lot of relationships with the girls on the team,” says Marie, who also earned North Branford’s Desire and Dedication Award for the second time of her career. “To be a leader, you have to set good examples and put in a lot of effort. Being a captain helped me understand that being a leader, you have to put in 110 percent. If you’re trying extra hard, that will help other people try hard.”
Marie says that she had great chemistry with her teammates on the court. After learning how to read the floor from LeMere, Marie developed a knack for knowing where her teammates would be on any given play.
“Reading the floor has helped me. With my teammate [Danielle Ramada], we’ve been playing together since 3rd grade, so I always know where she’d be,” Marie says. “It helped so much, because everything with our offense would run smooth.”
Although she’s played her final game at North Branford, Marie’s basketball career isn’t finished yet. Marie has committed to continue her basketball career at Lasell College in Newtown, Massachusetts.
“I didn’t want to give [basketball] up yet, so when I went to an open house there, I talked to the coach and introduced myself. I emailed him video footage and just kept updating him, so he ended up recruiting me, so I just committed,” Marie says. “With Lasell, I want to be able to be anywhere on the floor. I’m trying to work on post moves, outside shots, and ball handling. If he puts me anywhere, I’ll have no problems. I want him to trust me.”