Ranked seventh in Class AA by the New York State Sportswriters Association with a 13-3 overall record, the Hilton girls basketball team has four games remaining in the regular season before trying to accomplish what previous squads have come close, but never won – a Section V championship.
“I think we’re just more collected as a team and are more in it together and positive and we know if a girl messes up, we need to pick them up instead of tearing them down,” senior Ella Clark said. “And our bench is more excited, everybody is happy and ready to see the whole team succeed.”
One year ago, the Cadets were the sixth seed for the playoffs and made it through the first round before being eliminated by Bishop Kearney in the quarterfinals. They appear to be at least a second seed this season.
“I think last year we really built up confidence and this year we’re really showing that you can’t play with us in Section V and we’re a force to be reckoned with,” junior guard Mallory Heise said.
“I think this year we have five girls on the court that are putting all their effort into the game at the same time,” senior forward Leah Thompson added.
Riding a five-game winning streak after a 78-59 win over Edison setting a season high for points, the Cadets are battling with Victor and Canandaigua for playoff seeding. They split their season series with the Braves and defeated the Blue Devils on their home court with the rematch coming next week on the road.
The Cadets are well-balanced offensively, both inside and outside, and with depth scoring from the bench and several different class years.
Heise is leading scorer at 19.1 points per game with Clark at 14.8. Ella Simonelli and Thompson are both scoring 11 points per game with freshman Maddi Murphy at 6.8. Thompson and Clark are the top rebounders at 7.2 and 6.8 per game, respectively.
The team is shooting a respectable 42% from the field and 29% from behind the three-point line.
Clark became the fourth player in team history to eclipse the 1,000-point career mark after Heise was the third earlier this season.
“We have three seniors and a whole lot of juniors plus a freshman and one sophomore,” Thompson said. “And the future looks really bright for us,” Mallory Heise added.
“Besides our three girls that people are quite familiar with, you’re starting to see some other girls that are really athletic, game ready, and we have really good fourth, fifth and sixth options whether they’re starters or girls checking into the game,” head coach David Heise said.
“Every girl is a threat and ready to score and then they’re also buying into defensive principles. We like to press and open up the game a little bit, but also in half court they anchor into team principles and help each other out a lot.”
In Class AA, there are five teams currently ranked in New York State in Bishop Kearney (4), Hilton (7), Victor (8), Webster-Schroeder (13) and Canandaigua (14), so the path ahead is not an easy one. That is why the coaching staff scheduled games against two ranked teams from outside the area in Syracuse in early December.
But it is still one step at a time for the Cadets.
“Sectionals are big for us, and we want to go far since we haven’t won a brick in Hilton girls basketball history. So that’s definitely the goal; we just can’t look too far ahead – we just need to keep going game by game and it will take us there as we continue to practice and win games,” Clark said.
