North girls basketball trying to build off last season's success

It’s no stretch to say that the Nashua High School North girls basketball team had the program’s best season a year ago.

The Titans finished the regular season sixth in Class L, and for the first time, hosted a playoff game. North won that game – the program’s first postseason victory – before falling in the quarterfinals.

This season, the Titans have their sights set on getting further than last year. But after losing five seniors – including starters Kyla Gustavson, Jen Tamposi and Kelly Nolan – North has a tough climb in front of it.

That’s not something that is lost on the returning Titans.

“It’s going to take a lot of hard work, but if everyone is on the same page, it shouldn’t be a problem,” senior Angelique Gosselin said. “Everyone is very focused and we’re getting together as a team. Everyone is on the same page. If that happens, we can accomplish a lot of great things.”

Gosselin is one of four players returning with varsity experience. Coach Ricky Oliver expects her to start alongside returning starters Lauren Wingate, a senior, and junior Emily Boots, and junior Katelyn Ross, who also saw time with the varsity last season. Those four, who are all captains, will be joined by freshman Paige Parkinson.

“This year (Parkinson) is going to take her lumps but by the end of this season, she’s going to be fortified to play Division I,” Oliver said. “We’re going to have to make up the points we lost from Kyla Gustavson and Kelly Nolan. That’s a big chunk. They put up a lot of points. Between the both of them you’re looking at 20 to 25 points. Now you’ve got to make that up. The older girls are going to have to step up.”

The Titans have three other seniors on the roster in Liz McAfee, Clyla Boykins and Tori Sousa, who is back after not playing the last two years.

“We’re going to be very young,” Oliver said. “They’ve learned a lot quicker than most other teams. I’m really excited. They’re trying to pick up the system and what I want them to do. They’re all buying into it and that’s an important piece to the whole thing.”

Oliver also believes this is one of the quickest teams he’s had at North, and the Titans will look to take full advantage of that.

“We’re definitely faster,” Wingate said. “We’ve been working on a lot of fast-breaking and our defense has been trapping. Our offense is slowly starting to work out. We are relying on our defense a lot, but our offense is working.”

With the losses suffered to graduation, the Titans understand that there might be some in Division I looking past them at the start of the season and that’s been OK with Oliver.

“We’ll fly under the radar and we have no problem with that,” he said. “We’ve got some tricks in our bag. People are not going to be able to look at last year’s tapes and be able to figure out what we’re going to do. We’ve got some new tricks. If we can string it all together, we’ll be in great shape.”

North opens the season Friday at Alvirne at 7 p.m.