The loss of Amelia Thomas, a Second Team Division III player last season, will certainly leave a void for the 2019-20 version of the Hopkinton girls’ basketball team. But with a cast of players ready to step up, the process of filling that void may end being a net positive for the Hawks.
“Last year we were so dependent on Amelia for so much, and now we’re starting to learn how to take advantage of all of our pieces, and it’s kind of fun, actually,” said Pat Roye, who is entering his fourth year as Hopkinton’s head coach. “We do return six kids who played significant minutes for us last year, so that’s helped make things go a little more smoothly at the start, and they’re shaping up to be a pretty unselfish group with good chemistry, and that’s always fun to work with.”
The Hawks went 14-6 last year and reached the D-III quarterfinals as the No. 6 seed before losing to No. 3 Newfound. The two most recognizable names who return from that team are senior forward/center Katie Meserve and junior guard Maurgan McGrath, who were both D-III Honorable Mention for 2018-19.
“We’re kind of hoping that Katie Meserve can give us a double-double every night,” Roye said. “And Maurgan McGrath is a very accomplished shooter who worked really hard in the offseason on taking the ball to the basket, so she’s expanding her game and we’re hoping that pays dividends.”
Hopkinton’s third returning starter is senior Ellie Owen, a defensive stopper. Owen was also a defensive player and senior captain for the Hopkinton girls’ soccer team, and she scored the game-winning goal in the championship to give the Hawks back-to-back D-III soccer titles.
Sophomore Kally Murdough was also a starter for that soccer team, and she flashed some basketball potential last year as she came on strong in the second half of the season. Senior Fiona Beane, who saw a lot of time at point guard last year, is the sixth significant returner from last year’s team.
Roye said those six will see the majority of the minutes early in the season, which starts on Friday night at 7 p.m. with a home game against Newport. But the coach also has high hopes for a pair of varsity newcomers, sophomore Maddy Follansbee and freshman Maddie Carmichael.
Like Murdough, Follansbee was a D-III Honorable Mention defender for the Hopkinton girls’ soccer team this fall (Owen was a D-III First Team pick) and she’s carried that momentum into basketball season, impressing Roye with the improvements she’s made since last year. Carmichael, who scored a goal in all of the Hawks’ soccer tournament games, is an outstanding natural athlete who could wind up being a special player in all three of her sports – soccer, basketball and softball.
Last year’s D-III runner-up, Fall Mountain, returns a lot of talent and will be among the teams to beat this season. Conant, which was the No. 1 seed in last season’s tournament, will also be in the mix and may have the best player in the division in Liz Gonyea. Newfound will also be a tough out, as will defending-champ Monadnock, although the Huskies lost a lot to graduation, including Player of the Year Caitlyn Boucher.
Hopkinton should be in the conversation with all those contenders, although Roye would rather keep the talk focused on opening night.
“Personally, I’m going to Bill Belichick it and take it one day at a time,” Roye said. “I think the kids feel like one of their goals would be to make it to (the semifinals) and take it from there. I think we can get there, but there’s so much that goes into it, so many different factors like injuries, and your draw, and if you’re playing your best at the right time.
“So, I think we can be in the mix, but let’s just focus on this first one and then we’ll go to the next one.”
(Tim O’Sullivan can be reached at 369-3341 or tosullivan@cmonitor.com or on Twitter @timosullivan20)