Alvirne girls basketball getting a boost from the return of Jones

When the Alvirne High School girls basketball team was getting ready to start its season, coach Scott Szuksta wasn't sure where his team would be getting a lot of its energy.

The players who had brought the most intensity last year had graduated, and no one coming back for this season had shown during the summer and the fall that they'd be picking up that role.

But when tryouts began, a player who hadn't been on the court in over a year, jumped into the role Szuksta was trying to fill.

And now, junior Brianna Jones is starting to knock all the rust off her game and contribute in more ways than just lifting everyone's spirits.

"She's very energetic and very positive," Szuksta said. "We definitely missed that presence last year. This year, when she came back, it's been great to have her around at practice. She keeps the mood light, she's kind of an emotional leader. She does a lot for us."

Szuksta, who is in his second year as the Broncos' varsity coach, had Jones on his junior varsity roster two years ago when she was a freshman. If she would have made the varsity as a sophomore was a question that never had the chance to be answered.

Just two days into girls soccer tryouts, Jones sophomore year came to an abrupt end.

"Open field and I twisted (her knee) the wrong way," Jones said of her knee injury. "Nobody on me. I play three sports, so that was devastating."

During her time on the sidelines, Jones was able to get a different perspective on the sports she played.

"I got to watch how everybody else played," she said. "You really learn a lot about the sport when you're sitting. I've always been able to play. I had to work my butt off to get back."

After a year away from physically participating in soccer, basketball and track, Jones returned to the pitch for Alvirne in the fall, but at no point did she return the basketball court before tryouts.

"I think her first time touching basketball in a year was tryouts," Szuksta said. "I was a little nervous this year about who was going to fill that void, so it's been nice to have a junior who could step up and fill in. My seniors have stepped up, too, as far as clicking and working together as a team. They've done a great job of replacing those personalities that we lost."

Earlier in the year, as she continued to return to form, Jones tried to influence the Broncos in other ways, often keeping things light at practice with a joke.

But after Wednesday's 44-24 win over Souhegan in the first day of the Chick-fil-a Holiday Tournament, Jones finally felt like she was taking the next step. The junior scored seven of her nine points in the fourth quarter, and helped hold Souhegan's Mia Len to 10 points.

"She had a really good game (Wednesday)," Szuksta said. "Every single game has been about knocking the rust off. She's done a really nice job of working hard at practice to get better and working hard during games. She did a really good job defensively on (Len), who is their best player. I thought that out of all our kids, she played the hardest, and that was good to see."