LYNN — Last year, the Lynn Classical girls basketball team had its best season under coach Tom Sawyer — and also its best in more than a decade.
Of the five games the Rams lost last year, two were to eventual Northeastern Conference champion Revere, one was to St. Mary’s in the Lynn Christmas tournament, one was to Peabody in three overtimes, and the last one was in the state tournament, against Billerica.
Sawyer hoped the success, which had been building for a few years, would lead to more interest this season. But Monday, on the first day of tryouts, he was disappointed.
“We had 20-something kids trying out today, and that’s significantly less than in past years,” he said. “I guess it’s the same pretty much everywhere. They have jobs. They have other interests.”
But this doesn’t mean Sawyer is bereft of talent. That won’t be the case this season. The Rams have five senior returnees and he’s going to be leaning on each of them heavily.
The the creme de la creme, of course, is senior Paris Wilkey, who last week committed to Franklin Pierce in New Hampshire — a decision Sawyer is glad she has out of the way.
“It’s a load off her mind,” he said.
Sawyer says Wilkey, who was co-MVP of the league last season, will face some obstacles and challenges this season.
“We ask an awful lot of her, and the ball’s in her hands a lot,” he said. “Other teams are going to be paying attention to her more and more, and that means she’s going to have to find other ways to help us besides scoring. Maybe rebounding and passing.
“And of course, we’ll need some of the other players to step up and put those balls in the basket when they get her passes.”
The two obvious candidates for that role are Jeylly Medrano and Irianis Delgado. Medrano will be the point guard, “and she worked on her game all summer,” while Delgado “has a nice outside shot, and she’s an aggressive rebounder.”
Two other seniors, Maryah Chandler and Tyarah Horton will also be counted on to contribute, Sawyer said.
Of course, they will all have to fill the void left by Soneta Srey and Priscill Alouidor, “who was an unsung hero for us last year.
“That’s a lot of minutes to fill,” Sawyer said. “Priscill knew where she needed to be on the floor every minute of every game, and she did all the things coaches talk about but nobody notices.
“Soneta was good for three or four steals a game,” Sawyer said. “She was so quick.”
Underclass players who are big parts of the mix include Skyler Crayton and Chloe Kebreau.
“Skyler is another kid who worked hard all summer,” said Sawyer.
All of which begs the question: How will the 2017-18 Rams follow up on last year’s successes?
“I think we can compete with anyone we play,” Sawyer said. “But I also think that if we go out there with the attitude that we don’t have to work, we could lose to anyone we play too. We’re not that good that we can just go out there without a purpose.”
Classical has until Dec. 15 to figure it out. That’s when the Rams open their season on the road against Somerville.
