'You've got to believe:' Taunton girls basketball reflects on historic season
ATTLEBORO — The 2023-24 Taunton girls basketball season may have ended in disappointment in the Division 1 Sweet Sixteen, but few expected the Tigers to even reach this point.
When the No. 12 Tigers (15-7, 10-6 Hockomock League) fell 68-34 to No. 1 Bishop Feehan Tuesday, it capped off one of the best Taunton campaigns in years, one which coach Gretchen Rodrigues feels is just the beginning of a new chapter of Tiger basketball.
"The Taunton Tigers are now a program," Rodrigues said of her team. "People are respecting us and I’ll always remember (this group of girls) for that. We fought, we were gritty and there was never a game we went into that I didn’t think we were going to win, and they’re believing they can win, so it was a fun season."
In her second season at the helm, Rodrigues helped deliver Taunton its first winning record since 2012 and first tournament berth since 2013. The Tigers also narrowly missed out on their first ever Hockomock Kelley-Rex title, falling just a game short of champions Attleboro.
It's all the more impressive when considering the team went 5-15 just a season prior. That quick shift in fortunes is something Rodrigues largely credits to her players buying into the program and committing to each other.
"I told them last year that we’re going to be there next year, you’ve just got to believe and they did," Rodrigues said.
Part of that comes from the team's tight-knit nature. Both the varsity and junior varsity squads practice together, something which Rodrigues credits for giving her younger players daily experience of competing against seasoned varsity players. Along with that came the support from senior captains Cali Melo and Lexi Haywood, who she called both great students, athletes and role models.
"They held the team down every day at practice," Rodrigues said. "Everything ran through them (from) just holding people accountable to even group messages, just everything and they’re going to be so missed."
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In particular she praised the Nichols College-bound Melo, who had a joint-best eight points against the Shamrocks, as not just her point guard, but "the heart and soul of the team."
"She runs the show," Rodrigues said. "It was enjoyable working with her."
While Taunton may not have been able to have kept pace with Feehan, the Tigers found themselves in that position thanks to their first postseason win in 12 years after taking down No. 16 Winchester, 57-56, Friday night in the Round of 32. It's a memory Rodrigues knows her and her players will always cherish.
"I looked at them and said ‘this is what it’s all about,’" Rodrigues said of her postgame talk. "The experience was amazing. It was a packed house, it was fun and I was so glad they got to experience that."
Despite losing Melo and Haywood, along with fellow seniors Maddie Oliveira and Aleyah Year, Taunton will retain many of its key players, including the team's two leading scorers in sophomore Taryn Campbell and junior captain Jillian Doherty, as well as fellow junior Chelsea Bousquet and sophomore Mia Torres among others. With more young players on the way up and buying into the program, Rodrigues knows there's been a new bar of success set for Taunton and already has her eyes set on the prize for next winter.
"We’re coming back for the Hockomock title," Rodrigues said.
Game Stats
Melo and Bousquet each led the way for the Tigers with eight points, while Campbell and Haywood each had seven and Doherty finished with four.
Senior Julia Webb led the way for the Shamrocks with 20 points while junior Charlotte Adams-Lopez had 18 and junior Madelyn Steel had 14. Sophomore Mollie Mullen, a Dighton resident, didn't get on the score sheet but played well defensively.
Feehan will host No. 8 Lexington Friday at 6:30 p.m., with the winner moving on to face the winner of No. 4 Woburn/No. 12 Bridgewater-Raynham in the Final Four.
Taunton Daily Gazette sports reporter Cameron Merritt can be reached at cmerritt@tauntongazette.com. You can follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @CamMerritt_News. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to the Taunton Daily Gazette today.
This article originally appeared on The Taunton Daily Gazette: "We’re coming back for the Hockomock title," Rodrigues said.
