Tripling success: Narragansett girls basketball reflects on season of vast improvement
WEST BOYLSTON ― Narragansett Regional girls basketball suffered a season-ending loss in the MIAA Div. 5 Round of 16 against West Boylston Tuesday night.
After the 71-41 setback against the second-seeded Lions (19-3), the Warriors' families and friends scattered across the gym floor and applauded as the team emerged from the locker room. Tears were shed, hugs given out, but the positive aspects of the season lingered amongst the reactions of a sudden ending.
Just a year ago, Narragansett won just four games. Fast forward to now, and the Warriors tripled that number to make a playoff appearance, winning game one against No. 15 host Greenfield as the 18th seed before finishing 12-10.
Building a better program
After starting the season with back-to-back tough matchups against Gardner and Quabbin, Narragansett followed it up with a five-game win streak. While there was a handful of losses sprinkled in the rest of the season, the Warriors battled game after game, coming up with some close victories – 39-38 against Ayer-Shirley, 49-47 to Lunenburg and 57-50 against Whitinsville Christian.
These games, proving 2022-23 was but a distant memory, helped propel Narragansett's power rating, eventually earning it an 18 seed in the tournament.
Making up the core of the team were senior captain Lily Celata and juniors Amanda Iannacone and Brielle Haddocks.
Iannacone was the Warriors' leading scorer, averaging 10.2 points a game. Against a tough West Boylston team with forces such as 1,000-point scorer Maddie Pitro and standout eighth-grader Alicia Stone, Iannacone held her own on the boards and put up seven points.
'This is a family'
Everyone from coaches to players agreed that what helped turn Narragansett into a competitor this season was a close-knit team and the desire to work hard every day.
"It's all teamwork, we all work together it comes from our captains Abby and Lily and they bring us together and we work really hard as a team to make this happen," Iannacone said.
Iannacone, Celata and Haddocks have paved the way for the younger players to get them ready to perform on the court. As a team low in numbers, underclassmen were important to Narragansett and anyone had the opportunity to get minutes, whether a senior or a freshman.
"Everybody counts," Celata said. "We let them know they matter, and it doesn't matter what age."
Freshman Kaelyn Cote was a large contributor as a starting guard for Narragansett, adjusting quickly in her role. She finished averaging 8.2 points per game and a total of 163 points this season.
Head coach Mickey Kirby is optimistic about the future of his program after seeing how far they came in just a season.
"The junior class is going to be very strong next year as seniors, and we have a great younger group coming up," Kirby said. "I think our freshmen and our sophomores played well this year, we're just going to keep plugging away and hopefully we can be back here next year."
This article originally appeared on Gardner News: 'This is a family.' Narragansett girls basketball reflects on season
