Groton girls hoops makes sectionals for 2nd straight year

Last season was a historic one for the Groton girls basketball team, qualifying for sectionals to break a 10-year postseason drought. One year later with four new starters, the Red Hawks are going dancing again.

Groton punched its ticket to the Section IV Class C tournament on February 7 after beating Candor 63-46 on the road. It was a do-or-die game for the Red Hawks in their regular season finale. A win would see them reach the minimum requirement of a .400 winning percentage to make sectionals, while a loss would mean they miss out. Head coach Justin Albro couldn’t be prouder of the team for delivering playoff basketball to Groton for a second straight season.

“These girls year in and year out continue to strive for that and they know what they want to get to,” Albro said. “They just want to keep getting better, and it’s a testament to them for coming in and putting in the work every single day. Even in the offseason, we’re getting into some summer programs, and they’re the ones that have brought it back. It’s just exciting to watch them grow every year.”

Things did not start off strong against the Coyotes, as they trailed 12-2 five minutes into their must-win game. Albro called a timeout to hit the reset button and reiterate the program’s message of attitude and effort.

“When we started the game, our attitudes were good, but the effort was kind of slow,” Albro said. “We just had to get a quick reassessment. We knew it was going to be a big game. Maybe the nerves got us a little bit. Maybe it was the bus ride down there. But [it was] just calming things down, getting back into the flow, and then we take control of the game.”

From there, the Red Hawks played with full confidence. The Red Hawks went into halftime up by three points and came flying out the gates after the break, outscoring the Coyotes 36-22 in the second half to pull away with the playoff-clinching victory.

With four new starters, there were plenty of opportunities for players to step up their game, and Devyn Blasz has certainly done so. The sophomore leads the Red Hawks in points, assists, and steals per game. She also came up big against Candor, scoring a game-high 21 points while adding 14 steals and eight rebounds. Along with Ellie Dykeman, who scored 19 points, they have formed a truly dynamic guard duo that has excelled on both sides of the floor.

“When you’re running the point, you’ve got to facilitate for the others,” Albro said. “Your points will come, but if you can get it to everyone else and create it, then that’s what a good point guard is going to do. Devyn does a great job. [When] she gets a steal, her first objective is to look up to Ellie and Ellie’s running the court. They work so well together for just their first year playing together, so it’s really nice to see.”

Dykeman has also stepped up as a leader as both one of the five seniors on the team as well as the lone returning starter from last season.

“She took control of this team early on and it’s gotten the girls ready,” Albro said. “Her leadership has just shown. We feed off of her energy to start the game, and you can see how that reacts with her and how the other girls react. Everybody just knows if we’re on, we’re on. If not, somebody’s gotta step up. That’s what I’ve liked about all of our games is that somebody new seems to step up when we need it and then it builds the team right back up to get those wins, so it’s been really good to see, especially down the stretch.”

To complement the strong guard play of Blasz and Dykeman, Maddie Perkins has been a reliable force in the paint for Groton, bringing a high level of communication to the court that’s been paramount to their success.

“She’s communicating with every single girl,” Albro said. “You see what that does for Ellie and Devyn. When they’re in the top of our zone, they know what’s behind them, and they can play off of that because you have Maddie leading the charge there… you can see what happens when we communicate. We can force turnovers, and then that gets our girls out and running. Our best basketball is when we’re forcing turnovers and playing great defense, we can get into a good offense and get a good rhythm going.”

As the Red Hawks await who they will face in the opening round of sectionals, one thing is for sure: they’re heating up at just the right time.

“It’s a great group of girls,” Albro said. “They know what they’re doing and they know what they have to do and the way they’ve been playing. They’re excited and they have all the confidence in the world right now. They feel like they can play with anybody, and I feel the same way.”