RallyNorth.net

No-Name Clippers back in state tournament

Thursday, February, 21 By John Shimer
Staff writer

The 2007-08 Clippers don't have star power like in years past with a Kristin Degou.

They're also not like the 2007 state champion Clipper girls soccer team, which was loaded with big-name players. Winning a state championship is most likely not in their imminent future despite having several members of that soccer team on the basketball squad.

In fact, these Clippers face the likelihood of drawing a powerhouse top seed comparable to that soccer team in the opening round of the state tournament after finishing the season at 9-8.

But after missing the tournament with a record of 6-14 a year ago, the prescription to remedy last year's struggles was hard work.

Consequently a team where not one player averaged more than 8.5 points per game for the entire season was able to make a nine-game turnaround and reach the team's goal of qualifying for the state tournament.

"We went into the season hoping for improvement and striving to be consistent," said coach Neil Reardon. "Sometimes we have showed our abilities; other times we have been inconsistent."

Despite the no-name feel to this Clipper team, the one thing Reardon did have going for his team into the season was a veteran group of nine returning players.

"The sum of the parts are what makes this team successful, the girls each know their roles and that they contribute to the team whether they start or come off the bench," stated Reardon, who added all 10 girls on his team play every night. "When we are all on the same wave-length we can play some pretty good basketball."

After reeling off four wins in their first five games, the Clippers felt like a much more confident group than the 2006-07 squad, which lost six of its first seven "I think a lot of us weren't real motivated throughout the season last year because there was this feeling of 'Ugh, we're losing, and we can't do anything about it,'" said Clipper captain Kirsten Hadwen. "This year we had nothing to lose, so we wanted to step up and see what we could do."

Added sophomore Sam Barribeault, "Winning against Triton and Amesbury early in the season really gave us hope that we could do well this season. This year we have really been able to win the big games that we couldn't win a year ago."

An athletic group with not a lot of size or physicality, this Newburyport bunch has relied on their team speed, quickness, and the ability for any player to be the star on any given night.

"For us to be successful there is a formula: we need to have a strong full-court defense where we create a lot of turnovers and score a lot of transition baskets," explained Reardon. "When we slow it down and play a half-court game that's when our team has struggled at times."

Clearly the numbers agree with Reardon's assessment.

When the Clippers have scored over 40 points playing a more up-tempo style, they have gone 7-1 (the only loss to Wilmington in overtime) and have given up only 37.75 points in those contests.

But when matched up with more physically imposing, inside teams like Pentucket or Masconomet, the Clippers give up 11 points more a night (48.75 points), and only score an average 34.75.

"I think we definitely need to score to win because when we score big numbers it improves our defense. It gets our energy levels up," Barribeault said.

"And then we get our feet going in our man-to-man defense and we can put pressure on the opposing teams with our team speed," Taylor Bresnahan continued, "our offense leads to defense, and our defense leads to offense. It is when we have to set up our offense that we become an average team."

Additionally each one of the Clippers knows that on any given night a Bresnahan or a Barribeault or a Taylor Hickman or a Lindsey Tomasz could have the hot hand, which makes them a much tougher team to guard against.

"Everyone is determined to contribute whether it be passing or rebounding or getting a steal, and we all know that each one of us can score," Hickman said. "All of us have confidence and we have confidence in each other, and when we are all on we are tough to beat."