Spartans ready for new start

Sometimes, a team can learn more from a loss than a win, and that may have been the case last year when the St. Mary?s girls basketball team got bounced by Watertown in the Division 3 North semifinals.The Spartans came into that game with a 21-2 record and the hope of going deep into the tournament, but it didn?t work out that way.?Probably our biggest learning experience came from being eliminated in the tournament earlier than we expected,” coach Jeff Newhall said.Newhall said an experience like that shows that when you don?t bring your “A” game, particularly at that point in the year, you find out what happens. The Spartans are coming off a year that saw them set a school record for wins in the regular season (20). They had three Catholic Central League All-Stars, Brianna Rudolph, Jennie Mucciarone and Sharell Sanders, and all three have college plans.Rudolph will be playing Division 1 ball at the University of Massachusetts Lowell; Mucciarone will play Division 3 at Tufts University and Sanders is heading to Caldwell College in New Jersey, which is a Division 2 program.?There is no next year (for the seniors) any longer,” Newhall said.Rudolph led the team in scoring last year with a 16.8 points per game average. She missed most of her sophomore year with an injury, but is still within striking distance of joining the 1,000-career-point club. She set a school record for most points in a season (402) and had 738 career points. Mucciarone averaged 13.8 points per game and with 868 points, can also hit the milestone. Sanders came off the bench as a freshman (the year the Spartans won the state championship) and she has 590 points.?She?s developed into an excellent player,” Newhall said about Sanders. “She?s worked hard on her outside shooting and is a threat to shoot the ball and go to the hoop … in my opinion, she?s the best defensive guard in the state.”Newhall said Mucciarone has been the team?s most consistent player through her time at St. Mary?s. She has started every game (76) since she arrived at the school. Mucciarone can kill the opposition from the outside. She had 57 threes last year (the rest of the team combined had 36). If the other team takes away her outside game, she has an excellent one-on-one move to the hoop. She?s also an excellent free-throw shooter (79 percent over three years).?When it?s a one- or two-point game, we want the ball in her hands,” Newhall said.Newhall said it was clear when Rudolph was a freshman that she could play at a high level. She only played six games as a sophomore, three before she got hurt and the final three of the season. Newhall said as a junior, it took Rudolph seven to 10 games before she regained her confidence, and then it was off to the races.?Physically and mentally, she?s more prepared than she has been in her four years,” he said.Rounding out the starting lineup are two sophomores who started as freshmen — Gianna Moschella and Kayla Carter. Both are forwards who Newhall expects will play a growing role offensively.?As good as they played as freshmen, I expect them to do even more as sophomores,” Newhall said.Also returning with varsity experience will be Melissa LeFave and Sophia Holmes. LeFave, a forward, missed much of last season with a broken nose. Holmes is a guard.Newhall has a challenging schedule to keep the troops sharp. In addition to the CCL opponents, which including defending Division 3 state champion Archbishop Williams, a very good Arlington Catholic team and a talented Bishop Fenwick team, the Spartans have dates with Newton North (the top seed in Division 1 South last year) and Medfield (the defending Division 2 state champ). Newhall said the Lynn Boverini tournament will also be very competitive, as will be the Spartan Classic.The Spartans open at home Friday, Dec. 13.