Avon girls basketball has the potential for an excellent season

AVON, Dec. 6 – Avon High girls basketball coach Frank Waters believes the talent is there for the Falcons to be a strong team this winter. Avon returns four of five starters and nine of 10 varsity players from a team that went 16-9 a year ago.

Can Avon contend for a NCCC championship? Waters believes they can. Is a state championship on the horizon? Perhaps. It will be a matter of hard work and growth during the season that begins Thursday with the Falcons hosting Bolton at 7 p.m. in their season opening contest.

“We have more talent than any other team we’ve had here since the (Lindsay) Horbatuck, Erica (Primovic) group graduated four years ago,” he said. That team went 26-1 and went to the Class L semifinals. A year earlier, they won the Class L championship.

“We’re young,” Waters said. “We have talent. We’re athletic and we’re big.”

Waters has scheduled some challenging games. They will face Hall-West Hartford and travel to Torrington for a contest against a perennial Class L contender. At the annual Avon Holiday Tournament, Avon will face Tolland (a Class M finalist a year ago) in one semifinal. They’ll face either Northwest Catholic or Windsor in the second game. NW Catholic looks to be a serious contender in Class L this winter. “If we want to be the team we want to be, we need to play some good out-of-league teams,” he said.

They also have two games each with defending NCCC champion Ellington and Suffield, two of the largest teams in the league in terms of enrollment.

Junior point guard Anna Schrecengost returns. She earned All-NCCC honors a year ago and led the team in scoring (12.2 ppg), field goals made (113), three-point shots (25), assists (3.6) and rebounding (6.4).

She’ll start along side a pair of 5-foot-9 senior guards Alana Pulling (6.5 ppg) and Colleen Norton (2.1 ppg). Look for 5-foot-9 sophomore forward Shannon Curry, who averaged 5.9 points a game a year ago, at forward.

The Falcons are expecting a good season from 5-foot-9 sophomore Olivia Welter, who tore an ACL in her knee a year ago playing soccer and never played a minute of basketball. “Basketball is her game,” Waters said. “She plays on the wing and she can handle the ball in transition.” Welter should give Avon another scoring option that they were lacking a year ago.

Five other juniors – Lauren Miller, Julia Schrecengost, 6-foot-1 Madison Mains, Caroline Schafer and Emma Hartman – and sophomore Michaela Marcus give the Falcons plenty of depth. All six played on the varsity a year ago. Marcus, a quick guard averaged 5.7 points a game while Mains averaged 3.0 points.

Six-foot-3 freshman Abby Laszewski also looks to contribute. She can run the floor, jump and has good hands.

“We’re going to be a better offensive team that we were a year ago,” Waters said. “Defensively, we’ll try to press and run. We’re a better team in transition. We have the depth and we have the athletes.”

This shouldn’t be a team of six or seven players doing it all. Look for 10 to 11 players to get significant playing time throughout the season.

NOTEBOOK — Beginning with the Dec. 18 game against Suffield, the Falcons will have a strong four-game stretch to test themselves. On Dec. 21, Avon travels to Torrington. The Avon Christmas Tournament on Dec. 27 and 29 should provide some excellent competition.

In the NCCC, Avon faces Ellington twice in about two weeks on Jan. 16 and Feb. 5. Granby (Feb. 8) also looks to be a strong squad. All 16 NCCC games count toward the regular season championship.

A year ago, Ellington won the NCCC championship with a 15-1 record followed by Suffield (14-2), Granby (12-4), Avon (11-5) and SMSA (10-6).

Avon girls basketball
December
7: Bolton; 11: at Canton; 13. Hall; 14: at Stafford; 18: Suffield; 21: at Torrington; 27: Avon Christmas Tournament vs. Tolland, 7:30 p.m.; 29: Avon Christmas Tournament game 2, 7:30 p.m.
January
4: at Windsor Locks, 8: East Granby; 11: Coventry; 15: at Suffield; 16: at Ellington; 22: at East Windsor; 25: Enfield; 29: at SMSA
February
1: Somers, 5: Ellington; 8: Granby; 12: at Enfield
Games begin at 7 p.m. unless otherwise listed