As far as the Wilbraham & Monson Academy Girls' Basketball team is concerned, the Titans didn't defend their title at the Kingswood-Oxford Invitational Tournament – they just won again.
WMA beat three strong programs en route to claiming the KIT championship for the second season in a row. The Titans defeated Governor's Academy 63-37 Dec. 14, rallied to top Watkinson School 65-59 Dec. 15, and went on a late run to beat Holderness School 67-60 in the final.
A.J. Washington '19 was named the tournament's MVP, and Alana Perkins '19 was selected to the all-tournament team.
Quotes from WMA Coach Durelle Brown
On how the team played in the tournament: "The way the team played wasn't something I could have imagined two weeks ago. But they have remained consistent; they have practiced their tails off in the midst of everything, and now they're reaping the benefits of their efforts. And if there's anything I'm super proud of - I run them a lot. Against Governor's, the last eight minutes we went on a 31-13 run; against Watkinson we were down five and in the last three minutes went on an 11-0 run; and then in the championships, our fourth game in five days, we finished the game with a 7-2 run."
On winning the tournament: "Winning the KIT is amazing. We made a thing that we were going to win, again. We weren't going to defend our championship. Winning a tournament, and three games in three days, brings you so much closer together. You could see it. They were very much together, and for a coach, that's what those holiday tournaments are about."
On how the team played defensively: "Defensively, I really believe this may be our best defensive team because we are multifaceted, and kind of positionless. We can switch everything. We're really good on the ball; we're getting better off the ball. They just dig in. They're really, really tough."
Stats
Holderness – Alana 18 points, Ashley Ambrosino '20 17 points, Rhaymi Porter '21 16 points
Watkinson – Alana 19 points, A.J. 15 points, Ashley 12 points
Governor's – A.J. 17 points, Alana 16 points, Ingrid Salvador '19 nine points