After a great regular season, the Wilbraham & Monson Academy Girls' Basketball team is looking to have an even better postseason.
The Titans earned the #3 seed for the New England Class C Tournament, with a home quarterfinal against St. Andrew's School of Rhode Island set for Feb. 28 at 4 p.m.
"We feel good," Coach Durelle Brown said. "It's as healthy as we have been all season. People are hitting their stride. Everyone is doing well."
WMA finished with the school's best regular season in 14 years, going 17-3. The Titans enter the postseason on a nine-game winning streak, including a 61-58 in their finale at Suffield Academy Feb. 24.
"It was great to get back on the road, and to be in a game where you are up five with a minute left, and having to take care of the ball and make free throws is exactly what we needed," Coach Brown said. "Playing with pressure was good."
Alana Perkins '19 knocked down six 3-pointers and led WMA to the win at Suffield with 26 points. Kayla Mokwuah '18 added 20 points.
For 2017-18, Kayla, who is headed to Washington D.C. to play basketball at George Washington University next season, averaged 23 points, 16 rebounds and four blocks. Alana, arguably the best 3-point shooter in school history, averaged 20 points.
WMA lost in the Class C tournament the last two seasons to the eventual runner-up, falling to St. Andrew's a year ago in a semifinal in Rhode Island. This year's field is particularly strong, with St. Andrew's having beaten WMA by two points at the Class C East-West Showcase in January at a neutral site. Proctor Academy of New Hampshire, which defeated WMA by a point at the same event, earned the #2 seed.
"There aren't any gimmes," Coach Brown said. "We're going to have to play one game at a time - three championship games - if we want to win this thing. That's what it comes down to and that's why it's fun. We did a great job earning what we earned but now we're 0-0.
"Everyone is good. It's going to come down to who's going to execute, who's going to play the hardest and who's going to be resilient. I think we're getting there."