Groton improving under new coach

It’s been a tough few years for Groton girls basketball, missing out on the Section IV playoffs for the past several years and coming up one game short last season. First-year head coach Justin Albro is attempting to turn things around after working with the junior varsity squad the past three seasons.

At the writing of this article, Groton is 1-1 after splitting its season-opening series with Lansing last week. After falling in the first game, players made sure they were not going to drop both games to start the short season. Albro commented on the change he saw from the first to the second game.

“It was just awesome to see the growth in just one day,” Albro said. “We came out strong. It was tough. We had only six days of practice before the season opener, and you came from doing absolutely nothing or the bare minimum from what you could do. Then, you’re thrown right into full basketball with less than a week to prepare for a game and a whole new system for them to learn to get put into play.”

Basketball season came about suddenly in Section IV, leading teams in the area to start a mad dash to get the necessary practices in before the four-week season began last week. Albro described that experience.

“We got about two weeks in the gym in small groups of about four,” he said. “Each girl [was] at one basket, and they were able to just get shots up for a half hour to an hour a day. We were able to get some opportunity to get in there before the season started. For us, it was kind of unique, hectic, and once the season got going, it’s been nonstop since.”

With no postseason to play for, the motto for Groton this season is to simply enjoy the opportunity to play basketball.

“That’s kind of the MO we’ve given them,” Albro said. “There’s nothing post-seasonwise, but this is an opportunity to just play the game of basketball. You’re playing it because you love it this year, especially for the seniors. For the younger girls, they’re playing it to get better for the future.”

Of the nine girls on the roster, five will be graduating after the season. That leads to another goal for the team this year, which is building for a future in which Groton will be more competitive in Section IV.

“The seniors are guiding the younger girls, teaching them what they’ve learned over the past couple of years,” Albro said. “They’re helping each other out. They’re making sure everyone’s aware of what’s going on, and it’s really exciting to see because there’s no pressure this year. They are just going out and having fun and playing their last couple games.”

Albro went into further detail regarding his seniors and the effort they’ve shown this season.

“They got ripped off with a lot of aspects in school, and it kind of stinks for them a little bit here and there,” he said. “But for them to have an opportunity to finish off their basketball careers is just exciting. The girls are playing hard for them, and I know they’re going to give it their all for the younger girls too. It’s really nice to see all the team chemistry.”

Whatever the results are this year, Albro believes the program is moving in the right direction. He plans on this being a productive year despite not having any playoffs to shoot for.

“I sat down with every single one of [the players] individually and kind of laid out a five-year plan for them,” Albro said. “I truly believe this year is a turnaround year. We’re going to make some noise. I know my juniors and the girls behind them are looking forward to playoffs next year as getting back into what we want Groton basketball to be like. We actually see in two years, hopefully, with this young group coming up, we’ve got a lot of talent and we want to make a splash and at least have some home games for the playoffs. Hopefully, we’ll compete for a sectional title in the next couple years and the girls are motivated. They see the vision.”

One thing in particular that stands out about this team for Albro is how motivated they are. Responding to the season-opening loss with a strong performance the following night exemplified that.

“There’s no quit,” he said. “We were down in game one with just a minute left, and the game could have been out of reach, but every single one of the players was fighting until the end to the final whistle. You saw that they were upset after the loss. This one stung with them. They were like, ‘No, we want to win. We want to be competitive. This isn’t who we are.’ They came out the next night and they battled. That’s the biggest thing. They never quit or give up on each other.”

Next for Groton will be games against Trumansburg and Union Springs to end the week. The team will be looking to continue building toward those attainable future goals.