As Marblehead High School athletes joined their peers last week to transition from the fall season to winter sports with the start of practice, girls basketball coach Paul Moran appears to be ready for another winning campaign.
The Magicians finished 12-8 last year after dropping a Division 2 preliminary round game to Masco, the 25th seed, 50-29.
Stella Monaco, Isabell Ferrante, and Carlin McGowan are this year’s captains, and Moran has plenty to go around to fill out the rosters, with 30-plus prospective players coming out for tryouts.
They are evenly divided among the four grades, setting up for a solid season in the present tense, not to mention a bright foreseeable future.
“There is a great group of older kids and younger kids in this year’s program,” Moran said.
Besides the three captains, Moran is enthusiastic over the returning group of varsity players, who now have added experience to make even more noise in the Northeastern Conference, which should lead to more success in the state playoffs.
“This is a good group of returning athletes starting with our three captains, along with Kate Burns, Katie Pyne, Clara Donovan, Samantha Dormer, Olivia Goldwater, Ramona Gillette and Madison Forbes,” Moran said.
There’s plenty of time to figure out starting lineups and who makes each squad because the Magicians do not begin the season until Dec. 13 against Beverly at home. Moran has also scheduled two scrimmages that should help them get in competitive shape for the real games on the schedule.
Joe McConnell
