By Christopher Tremblay, Staff Sports Writer

The Bay Path Girls basketball team finished the regular season with a 15-3 record capturing their second straight Colonial League Championship. The Minutemen grabbed their first league title in some time last winter and were able to go back-to-back this season. Although Bay Path has been able to capture its second straight league title, the team is more focused on going back-to-back in winning the State Vocational Championship. 

“Our goals coming into this year were the same as last year: win the league title, qualify for the Clark Tournament, qualify for the State Vocational Tournament and then get to the Division 2 State Tournament,” Minutemen coach Randy Schulman said. “We lost a few key players from last year’s team, but we knew that we had a good nucleus coming back this year.”

One of the key contributors returning this winter was senior guard Ali Welton. After averaging 12 points per contest last season, the senior improved her scoring to 15 a game this year and was the team’s leading scorer. As a four-year varsity starter, she is a solid all-around player who sees the floor well and can shoot from three-point range as well as knocking down the mid-range shot. 

Another four-year varsity starter for the Minutemen is Kendall Bond, who like Welton, is an all-around player that brings a tremendous leadership to the team. The forward / center averaged 10 points a game this year and can pull down a rebound when needed. 

Hannah Cavan is another four-year varsity player, but has only started the past three seasons. According to the coach, she is a hustler, runs the floor and grabs a lot of rebounds for the team while giving the squad an inside presence.

“Hannah is tenacious on the boards although she is not super big,” Schulman said. “All three of these girls have been playing together since the sixth grade. They play well together and know what the other is thinking or doing at almost any given moment.”

First-year varsity player Dayzyah Wintzel has been giving the Minutemen an intimidating presence in the center position. The senior, being one of the tallest girls on the squad, has really helped the Minutemen with her play. Schulman noted that with Wintzel playing center, he has been able to move Bond out of that position and into a forward position. The first-year varsity player has recorded numerous double-digit rebounds this year and has a willingness to pass the ball if needed.

Running the offense down the court is senior Kortnie Adams. The Bay Path point guard controls the team’s offense, is a very solid player and has a great basketball IQ. 

“She doesn’t score a lot of points,” the coach said. “But she contributes a lot of assists and is a very scrappy and gritty player on defense.”

Bay Path also had a couple of solid juniors to contribute this season in Allie Klar and Arianna Gonzalez. Sophomore Kayla Schroeder was the team’s best defensive player, a hustler that usually was given the task of guarding the opposition’s best guard. Unfortunately, she got hurt and the coach was unsure if the sophomore was going to make it back onto the court during the team’s post-season run. 

The rest of the Bay Path team included senior Manaali Vaidya and freshmen Chloe Hosley and Liz Bennington.

Last year, after qualifying for the Clark Tournament, the Bay Path fell in the opening round and never got the opportunity to actually get to play at Clark University. This year they were hoping to erase that feeling and make it to the college but once again the Minutemen fell in the opening round at a neutral site. 

Bay Path will now begin focusing on defending their large school division Vocational Title. Being the first team in Bay Path history to bring home the Girls Basketball Championship, the team knows they have a target on their backs.

“We knew coming into the year that teams would be looking to give us their best game hoping to knock us down,” said Schulman. “Last year we snuck up on some schools, but it’s not going to happen this year, they know what they are getting in us.”

The Minutemen played a lot of quality teams during the regular season and are hoping that it helps them prepare for their return to the Tournament.

On February 12 during Senior Night at home Welton eclipsed the 1000-point threshold for her career, becoming only the second female and fourth athlete overall to accomplish the feat at Bay Path. Accomplishing the feat was nothing that was ever on the senior’s radar growing up playing a sport that she came to love. She was playing the game for fun, but to be able to do what she has done is a great tribute to her coaches, her family and her teammates as without them all she would not be where she is today.

Growing up playing the sport she never felt that she was a star or even one of the best players on her AAU teams, but when she got to high school and earned a starting position as a freshman she knew she was going to have to elevate her game.

“I knew that entering high school the environment was going to be totally different to anything that I had been used to in the past,” she said. “I felt that I was going to have to work hard and play with determination.”

Entering the season the senior had no idea where she stood in terms of her overall point total and really didn’t think she was close to reaching the top of the mountain.

“Last year a friend and I sat down and tried to calculate the numbers to see if it was something that could be done and we came up with the conclusion that it was undoable,” Welton said. “This whole year the coaches were keeping it a secret as they didn’t want me to get it in my head.”

After scoring 30 points two nights earlier, Welton had the feeling that she was close and her suspicions eventually were leaked.

“I knew that I had to be close after scoring 30-points; everyone was acting real weird,” she said. “Then someone mentioned that I was five points away by mistake and spoiled the secret.”

Going into the senior night contest Welton found herself very nervous and having the jitters. Once she hit her first basket, bringing the milestone into site she continued to try and knock down that elusive three-point basket. 

“I kept trying to hit the three to get the 1000 point, but things were not falling. In fact, the coach told me to go to the basket and take the two-points,” she said. “Eventually I hit the three and it was such a relieving feeling; I was very happy with the accomplishment and all my hard work had come full circle.”

Bay Path will now work on defending their Vocational Championship before they enter into the Division 2 State Tournament.