Now it’s their time to step up and lead
During car rides before games last winter, in between bouts of blasting upbeat music, Medfield senior Kate Olenik often turned to freshman Tess Baacke and asked if she was nervous.
“A little,” Baacke admitted, at which point Olenik reminded her that nerves aren’t necessarily negative. Once you step on the court, Olenik told her, it will all disappear.
Olenik, who is currently leading the Colby women in scoring as a freshman, taught Baacke to flip the switch once she entered the locker room. As Baacke (5.5 points, 5.1 rebounds last year) and fellow sophomore Izzy Kittredge (8.2 points, 5.2 rebounds) embrace greater roles this season, they’ll continue to lean on the principles they learned from Olenik and the other 2023 seniors.
The same theme holds true in Andover, where seniors Michaela Buckley and Ella Vidoni will take on increased responsibility and anchor the defending Division 1 champion Warriors without Anna Foley and Amelia Hanscom.
In Dracut, senior Lamees Alasaad and freshman Kaylee Maier will try to fill the void after the departure of Ashlee Talbot (St. Michael’s) and the rest of a loaded senior core.
In the new year, lessons from those standouts remain. Rising stars around the state know there’s no replacing those catalysts, but they’re hungry to cement their own legacy and keep traditions alive.
“We’ve heard it a lot this season that, you know, Dracut lost all their talent, they’re not going to make it as far,” Alasaad said. “I want to make sure we’re using that as fire under us.”
When Alasaad transferred from Revere as a sophomore, she was shy and still finding her voice. Last year, going up against Talbot — a Globe Super Teamer who steered the Lady Middies to their first-ever state final — unlocked another level to Alasaad’s game.
Alasaad was always known for her lockdown defense, but facing a player as explosive as Talbot took it to the next level. She often face-guarded Talbot in practice and learned to instinctively read her hips and hand movements. Offensively, Talbot made Alasaad work, forcing her left and daring her to shoot from deep.
“Ashlee is the best guard
I’ve ever had the privilege of playing with and watching,” Alasaad said. “Facing a skilled player like her always pushed me to perform my best.”
Dracut coach Peter Witts credited Alasaad (8.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.6 steals last season) for absorbing Talbot’s knowledge and adding to her repertoire offensively. He said Alasaad has “the highest motor in the state,” and praised her for making Talbot a better practice player.
Now Alasaad, with some help from Maier, will look to take the reins and prove that she’s more than just a defensive menace.
In Andover, Buckley learned similar lessons. From Foley, she learned to slow herself down and play with poise, calling her a “centering force.” From Hanscom, she learned that a little positivity goes a long way.
“They were such amazing leaders,” Buckley said. “Obviously they were incredibly talented players, but they were also very supportive teammates. They’ve always been role models.”
Buckley (6.3 points, 4 assists, 3 steals last season), with assistance from Vidoni (5.6 points, 3 rebounds) and a strong supporting cast, is preparing for an increased role offensively. She’ll always cherish that title run, and now she’s eager to start fresh and build toward something special again.
Coach Alan Hibino said it’s exciting to figure out how the pieces fit together. As they discovered Friday in a loss to St. Mary’s, they’ll get every team’s best this season.
“We’re a new-look team this year, but Michaela and Ella can be that bridge between last year’s team and this year’s team,” Hibino said.
Back in Medfield, coach Mark Nickerson said Kittredge and Baacke saw Olenik work tirelessly and emulated that behavior. She also showed them how to play with humility.
“Their growth from the start of their freshman year to the end was huge,” Olenik said. “I’m so proud of all the work they put in.”
Kittredge said it was “gutwrenching” to see Olenik go down briefly late last year, but it taught them an important lesson.
“We all just had to believe in each other and trust each other,” Kittredge said. “I feel like that made us come together. That’s what we need to do this season as well. All of us will continue that culture of high intensity and high determination to win a championship.”
Free throws
R The MIAA’s new Competitive Equity Modifier (CEM) tool has resulted in several significant divisional realignments in girls’ basketball. A few teams are frustrated by the changes.
Millis, which advanced to the Division 5 final last year, is now one of the smallest schools in Division 4 with 328 students. Coach Dave Fallon feels the new formula isn’t aligning with its namesake in regards to smaller schools. Millis lost its appeal to the MIAA to move back to Division 5.
“I think the tool needs some tweaking because I do think enrollment has got to mean a little bit more,” he said. “These adjusted numbers, I mean, they’re quite drastic. But I think it’s more of the byproduct of [the formula] and how, to me, it’s led to inequitable results for many schools like us.”
Fallon understands the intentions behind the formula, which accounts for a school’s stability rate (how steady attendance is) and high-needs population (students with economic disadvantages or special needs). But he also looks at some schools in Division 5 that have close to double the student body size and believes the adjustments have been too extreme.
“We’re the fourth-smallest traditional public school [in D4] — there are some charter schools and things like that that are smaller than us — but I just feel like enrollment data should be one of the major driving forces of making division alignments,” he said.
R The regular season is only a week old and we’ve already seen some buzzer-beating highlights. Duxbury’s Hailey Flynn swished a catch-and-shoot 3pointer from the right wing to lift the Dragons to a 45-43 victory in their Tuesday season opener against North Quincy.
That same night, Lowell Catholic seventh grader Janae Holmes knocked down a winning 3-pointer from the top of the arc, giving the Crusaders a 53-50 victory in overtime against Greater Lowell.