Girls’ Basketball Dominates, Takes the Title of Inaugural Champions of the Eight School Leagues

The Exeter girls’ basketball team had a record 2013-2014 season, going 20-4. The team was led by seniors Nicole Heavirland and Yvonne Dean-Bailey and lower Peace Kabari. Other key contributors were seniors Susannah Gray and Maddie Firkey and upper Courtney Henrich. The team was rounded out by senior Katherine Callahan, uppers Mel Allen, who was unfortunately injured early in the season, and Casey Osborne, lowers Michelle Bosche and Michaela Streep and prep Maya Blake. The group was led by head coach Johnny Griffith and assistant coach Ellen Gunst.

The squad got off to a hot 6-0 start before Christmas break. Over the course of that streak, they beat, among others, Northfield Mount Hermon, Hotchkiss and Tabor in OT.

To start off the new year, Exeter lost to eventual Class A champions Noble and Greenough. That was the first loss of the season for the Big Red, but the team did not seem discouraged. It responded by ratting off six consecutive wins. During that stretch, Exeter had wins over league foes Deerfield and Choate Rosemary Hall. The squad beat its opponents by an average of 23 points during the streak. That dominating sequence of victories came to end after a trap game loss at Governors. The loss dropped the team to a 12-2 record through January.

Exeter’s first game in February was against rival Andover at home. The team struggled throughout that game but was able to still come out with the victory. After the match, the team had a meeting and went over what its attitude was going to be going forward. “I think it engaged the team as a whole and reminded us of what kind of team we are,” Henrich said. “We kind of lost our identity in the last two games and it was time to bounce back.”

Indeed, Big Red did bounce back. The athletes proceeded to crush New Hampton, beat Marianapolis in an OT thriller and defeated Worcester. Then, unfortunately, they were derailed by a loss to would-be Class B champions Tilton.

With only three games left in the regular season, Exeter went out and won its next two with road wins over Cushing and Holderness.

Exeter’s final game of the regular season was against archrival Andover. Going into the game, the team had already clinched the number-one seed in the Eight Schools League playoffs. Perhaps that played a role in the game’s outcome: a 40-36 loss at Andover during E/A. Exeter struggled throughout the game, rebounding off the offensive and failing to convert most of its perimeter jumpers. The loss left the Big Red disappointed, but Exeter still had the playoffs to redeem themselves and finish strong.

The girls’ first matchup was against Northfield Mount Hermon, the team Exeter had beaten earlier in the season and that had beaten Andover in order to face Exeter. Big Red thoroughly dominated NHM to a tune of 59-40. After securing a spot in the title game versus Choate, the team got excited but kept things in perspective. “We can’t rely on having beaten them before,” Kabari said.

In the championship game on its home court, Exeter controlled the whole game. After getting out to a sizzling 14-0 start, the girls never looked back. Their defense, as it had all season, stepped up and forced turnover after turnover, resulting in easy transition baskets. Their shooting touch also came back and helped them earn a 65-36 win to become the inaugural champions of the Eight School League. After the final buzzer of the season rang, the team celebrated by cutting down the nets and posing for one final photo together.

For the whole 2013-14 season, Exeter played with one word in mind: grit. It was demonstrated in the girls’ defensive pressure, whether man or zone, and pestered many of their opponents into committing turnovers. On top of forcing turnovers, the defense only let up 45.75 points per game. The team’s grit didn’t just show up on defense; the athletes also rebounded well and scored many of their points with aggressive drives to the rim, primarily from Kabari and Heavirland.

Next year’s team will be missing four starters: Heavirland, Dean-Bailey, Gray and Firkey. Senior Katherine Callahan will also not be returning. With five seniors graduating, the team will not only need to replace its production, but also its leadership—Heavirland was the team’s captain and a New England Prep All-Star. 

“The younger kids are going to have to step up,” Griffith said. “Peace [Kabari] and Courtney [Henrich] are obviously leaders on the team and they’ll be back, but we’re hoping to get a good yield from admissions as well. [There’s] a couple of really strong PGs that have applied.”

With Kabari, also a Prep All-Star, returning, the team will have no shortage of go-to scorers and lockdown defenders. Henrich will be the only returning upper who had considerable playing time this season and will be looked upon as a leader. Mel Allen will be coming off a torn ACL suffered this season and will look to contribute as one of the three will-be seniors on the team. If no recruits come in, prep Maya Blake will look to take over the hole left by Gray in the paint, and lower Michelle Bosche will look to build upon her increased role late in the season. Other returners will be upper Casey Osborne and lower Michaela Streep, both expected to be in the rotation for next year. Also look for prep Hannah Gustafson and lower Tessa Vaccaro to make the jump from JV to varsity next year, as Bosche and Streep did so this season.

“Hopefully some young kids will come in and fill in some shoes, but it will a bit of a rebuilding project,” Griffith said. 

This year was supposed to be a rebuilding year for the boys’ team, but it ended up not being one at all as it won its second consecutive Class A title. It would be no surprise to see next year’s girls’ team back competing for another title.

As for Exeter’s second motto, “Turn Up,” the banner that will hang in the gym speaks for itself.