Norton Eighth Grade Girls Looking To Continue Success

It may be difficult for the Norton eighth grade girls’ basketball Division 1 travel team to duplicate its impressive feats of a year ago, when the locals finished with an undefeated 15-0 league record as seventh graders. And as hard as it is to complete a season undefeated, the team is not going to focus too much of its attention this winter on trying to repeat that record.

Last year, on the way to a perfect league campaign, Norton went 12-0 during the regular season and won the MetroWest League’s Division 1 title. In the Group 1 playoffs, the locals defeated Medway, 48-37, in the quarterfinals before beating North Attleboro, 37-21, in the semifinals, both games being held at the Mass. Premier Courts in Foxboro.

Norton then exorcised some demons in the group finals, edging rival Newton, 46-45, at Mass. Premier to capture the championship and finish at 15-0. The locals then competed in the seventh grade girls Division 1 state tournament at Mass. Premier. They defeated Hingham in the quarterfinals before falling by two points to Billerica in the semifinals.

“Last year our focus was on taking one game at a time,” said Norton head coach Tim Dermody. “We wanted to get better each week. It was a long season, but the girls played well. Going undefeated in the league was a great accomplishment.”

This winter, Norton is competing with eight other teams in eighth grade Division 1 of the MetroWest League, joining Medway, Sudbury, North Attleboro, Newton, Westwood, Millis, Watertown and Easton.

“After what we accomplished last year, we will have a bulls-eye on us this year,” Dermody said. “Everyone will be up to play us. The other teams in the league will be ready for us. We will get the other teams’ best games every week. And whether we win or lose each week this year, we want the girls to play their best.”

Norton will play 12 regular-season games again this winter, the only difference being its home games are at Mass. Premier instead of the . The locals’ biggest challenges for the regular-season title should come from Newton, North Attleboro and Medway. All nine teams make the division playoffs, when Norton hopes to be peaking.

“We want to be playing better than we did the week before and we want to be playing our best once the playoffs start in March,” Dermody said. “The games in March matter the most. We have both short-term and long-term goals this year. We want to press more and we are putting a few more wrinkles in on offense.

“Would I love to go undefeated again? Sure. But the biggest thing is to win our last game of the year. We want to stretch the season out a little longer than last year. The league and state tournaments are equally important to us. We are going for it this year. We want to win the state championship.”

After the first three games of the season, the locals were part of a four-way tie for first place in the division, joining Medway, Sudbury and North Attleboro at 3-0. Newton, Westwood and Millis were all tied for fifth with 2-1 marks.

Norton has gotten off to a dominant start to the year, winning its first three games by at least 20 points with all three being played at Mass. Premier. The locals opened with a 54-26 win over Division 2A Mansfield. They defeated Watertown, 54-22, in week two before improving to 3-0 with a 49-29 win against Division 2A King Philip last Sunday.

“It was similar to last year,” said Dermody of his team’s performance in the first three games. “The girls showed a little rust, but we are getting closer. Our execution is getting better. We are actually where we should be three weeks into the season.

“We have to continue to improve with our rebounding. We are not very big, so we can’t let teams get us into a half-court game. The faster the game is played, the better it is for us. We want to control the tempo as much as possible. We also need to take care of the basketball, minimize our mistakes and get to the rim. Recognition is also a big part of our game. We want the girls to recognize what the other teams are doing and then react to it.”

With the upcoming holiday, Norton has a bye this week before getting back to action Sunday, January 2 when the team hosts Westwood at Mass. Premier Court 5 at 11 a.m.