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St. Luke's Girls Basketball Season Preview
After a very successful 2016 campaign, expectations are high for the St. Luke’s Girls Basketball team and their new Head Coach Matt Ward.
With eleven returning players the core of the FAA Championship team will be back on the court hoping to repeat and make a push for the NEPSAC Championship, something which eluded them last time out.
Ward has been impressed with what he has seen so far and is excited to be guiding this talented group. He said, “I am really looking forward to the season. I realized very quickly we are really deep, which is great. We have a lot of versatility and a lot of athleticism and they worked extremely hard during preseason.”
This year’s squad will be led by captains Sydney Lowery ‘17, Bridget Dalton ‘18, Maya Klein ‘18 and McKenna Frank ‘18 and the head coach is hoping for great things from the quartet. He said, “Four captains is kind of a lot but they are all very different and work well together so I think they will all contribute in their own way. Syd, Maya and McKenna will lead the charge offensively and Bridget is one of our few forwards. She is very athletic and physical and will cause teams a lot of problems.”
Some of the depth Ward references comes from the youngest player on the team, Caroline Lau ‘22, who the coaching staff believe can make a real impact. Ward said, “She’s unique. I haven’t seen too many players like her and her handles are one of the best I have seen from a 7th grader. She is really quick, really fast and likes to play defense. Her shooting is good too, she’s doing well.”
Ward, who is also the school’s Dean of Students, knew about the strength of the program at SLS before his arrival but he is sure to put his own stamp on the team: “I had seen that this team scored a lot of points but I also saw they gave up a good amount too, so the first few weeks we have been preaching defense and toughness. I think the key to this season is going to be to play defense and run! We have thirteen girls and nine guards who can all play— so the more we run the tougher it will be for our opponents.”
The team got off to the best possible start this past weekend at the Miss Hall’s Annual Tip-Off Classic beating Stoneleigh Burnham School and Greenwich Academy to set up a Championship game against St. Andrew’s school. The Storm went toe to toe with their opponent from Rhode Island and held on to win 58-57.
Ward was delighted with the effort saying, “One thing I learned this weekend is how tough they are. Sometimes it’s not so easy to see that in practice but they really showed me that side of them in the final.”
Things are looking bright for GVBB but when pushed about making a return to the NEPSAC tournament the head coach remained cautious, “I know the girls want to go again but I don’t want to talk about NEPSAC’s.” He added, “I don’t want it to be on their minds. I want them to tackle things one game at a time. We haven’t set team goals yet but I want them to be a good defensive team, I want them to play together and enjoy playing with each other, focusing on ‘when she scores, we score’.”
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 40 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Leading with Humanity curriculum builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
