After a rough start, the Nantucket girls basketball team has won seven straight

The last three seasons for the Nantucket girls basketball team have not been the best for the Whalers.

In 2020-2021 (1-16), 2021-2022 (3-15), and last season (2-18), they finished the season with three or fewer wins.

The Whalers started this season 1-6 and it was looking like that trend was going to continue for a fourth straight season. With 10 new players, the Whalers' early struggles were not a surprise.

“The process takes a little time,” Nantucket head coach Raf Osona said of the slow start.

Well, time is on the Whalers' side as of late. It may be a cliché, but it's not about how you start, but how you finish.

Not only are the Whalers one of the hottest teams on Cape right now, but they are off to their best start in five years (2018-19). After a 49-23 win over Sturgis East on Friday, Nantucket has won seven straight and now sit at 8-6 on the season.

Success like this doesn’t happen overnight. Junior captain Joan Harris said it started with picking up the intensity in practice.

“It’s discouraging when you’ve lost so many, so we got motivated by that to win some games and improve,” Harris said.

That motivation had the Whalers beat their last seven opponents on this win streak by an average of 20 points per game. The defense has also held the opponents to 23 points per game over that stretch.

Chemistry

During the win over Sturgis East, the Whalers were cheering each other on after big plays on the court and from the sidelines, calling out plays, and never showed frustration when they made an error.

This type of camaraderie does not happen just from being teammates, especially when most of them are playing together for the first time. Senior captain Maddie Lombardi said that they built that chemistry throughout the season.

“I think through that, it has made us play a lot better, and just being confident and keeping our heads up,” Lombardi said. “In the past, we’ve played a lot of tough teams, and we’re almost used to losing, but we just kept our heads up and played through it.”

Coach Osona said that is what he wanted from the beginning, his team being on the same page.

“If you're running your stuff together, you're not playing 3-on-5 or 4-on-5,” Osana said.

Depth

Most teams, at any level, have a go-to player or “star” player who usually leads them in scoring on most nights.

Lombardi led the team with 15 points against Sturgis East, but was far from the only contributor. While six other players showed up on the scoresheet, other players contributed while not showing up in the box score.

“We don’t rely on one person that can score,” Lombardi said. “Everybody can score if we need to, and everyone has their skill sets that can contribute to us winning as a team.”

The best part about having a deep team is when the players know their role. Yes, the scoring is what puts the points on the board, but other key attributes lead to those made baskets, and more importantly, wins.

“I’m not a big scorer, but I do the little things like rebounding and passing,” Harris, who finished with five points, said. “Stuff like that goes a long way.”

Over the course of the season, Osana said he has had seven or eight different players who have scored nine or more points on a given night.

He went on to praise his team's three-point shooting, which was showcased with seven threes (four different players) in the victory over Sturgis East. Despite being a team that is good from behind the arc, he doesn’t want them to settle for those types of shots.

“We’re looking for high percentage shots and we’re trying to really manage our shot selection the best we can. It's winning by committee,” Osana said.

In the past, Osana said they used to rely on Lombardi on the offensive and defensive side, but this year’s team won't have to worry about that.

“It’s nice because it takes the pressure off of those players like Maddie Lombardi. Now, we can do it collectively. It’s a good approach for us,” Osana said.

The Win Streak

The Whalers won’t have too much time to celebrate their current win streak as they are back in action against the Islands rival in Martha’s Vineyard on Saturday.

The two faced off in the second game of the season where Martha’s Vineyard came out with a 49-27 win. However, the team the Vineyarders faced on Dec. 9, is not the same team today.

“The mindset we have right now is just so good, we just need to keep that, and not getting complacent,” Lombardi said.

This game is bigger than just a rivalry matchup or keeping the streak going.

The Whalers are currently in a playoff spot with six games left on the schedule. If they want to secure a postseason berth, they need to win at least two more games. That may not sound like much, but the next two opponents (Martha’s Vineyard and St. John Paul II) are teams that defeated them earlier in the season.

“It’s not a complex game, but it’s good passing, it's ball movement, it's rebounding, it's all the little stuff,” Osana said. “If we continue to do that, I think we’re going to be fine. We got a good challenge tomorrow.”

Contact Courtney Jacobs at cjacobs@capecodonline.com. Follow him on X/Twitter: @CJ_Journalist.

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This article originally appeared on Cape Cod Times: The Nantucket girls basketball is off to its best start in five years