LYNN– Growing pains were a big theme of the English girls basketball team’s season last winter. Under first-year coach Mackenzie Charles, the Bulldogs improved from recent seasons but struggled to finish close games. That, in short, put English on the losing side of a handful games that were decided by single-digits.
“We lost a lot of close games,” Charles, entering his second season at the helm of the program, said. “We had to learn how to finish and that’s one of the main focuses this year, being tougher mentally and physically. We have to learn how to finish and put the ball in the hoop. But I liked the level of effort last season.”
The benefit of English’s growing pains is that the Bulldogs return in 2017-2018 with a core of experienced players. While they were mainly a group of inexperienced underclassmen last season, the Bulldogs are led by a core of four experienced seniors this winter.
It starts with senior point guard Ely Guity, who’ll serve as the team’s floor general.
“Ely’s going to be one of our leaders,” Charles said. “She leads by example. We’d love for her to take a bigger role in scoring. She might play off the ball this year. She’s a hard worker and she’s a great kid.”
Also projected to play a big role this season is senior forward Tommi Hill. A three-sport athlete who also plays soccer and softball, Hill flashed potential last year as a scoring threat from beyond the arc.
“Tommi’s a good shooter,” Charles said. She’s going to play big time minutes but that depends on how hard she works and how hard she plays defense.”
Senior forward Dorothy Ezemba will also play a big role for the Bulldogs. Ezemba emerged as a dominant presence in the paint last season.
“Dorothy’s a great student-athlete,” Charles said. “She’s going to play a big role for us this year.”
Capping the team’s senior core is guard/forward Sheyla Manon, who’ll lead the Bulldogs as team captain.
“Sheyla has worked extremely hard over the offseason in the weight room,” Charles said. “She’s one of our best defenders. She does a lot of the talking on defense. We’ll lean on her.”
With four seniors at the forefront, English won’t lack leadership this upcoming season. The Bulldogs project to be a strong defensive team, and they’ll also have versatility on their side.
“I think we’ll be a really good defensive team,” Charles said. “We’ll also have a lot of leadership this year. Julianna Perry is only a junior but she’s one of our leaders. We’ll have a big season but it depends on how hard we work. We’re on pace to be a better team but it depends on how we attack practice every day.
“One thing I like about this team is its versatility,” Charles added. “We have a lot of players who are interchangeable and they can play multiple positions.”
Rebounding, on the other hand, is where the Bulldogs will look to improve. Last season’s team struggled on the glass and Charles believes developing a mindset of toughness will help that cause.
“We need to get better at rebounding,” Charles said. “We have to improve on that and that’s a toughness thing. We have to be a little more physical and we need to improve on defense. The players need to work on that but they work hard. Effort has never been a problem.”
English knows it’ll need to bring its best effort day in and day out to compete in the Northeastern Conference. In addition to NEC powerhouse teams such as Danvers, Revere, Saugus, Swampscott and Peabody, the conference adds more competition with the Greater Boston League merger.
“I tip my hat off to all the coaches in the NEC,” Charles said. “I gained a lot of respect for how hard they work. I think our girls are starting to develop a mindset of wanting to play against the best. Our league got better with the GBL teams coming in. As a coach that makes me want to work harder. I love the competition.”
English opens the new season on December 12 when the Bulldogs host New Mission.
