WOODBURY — Sports at Nonnewaug High School are important to staff, parents, and, of course, the athletes. But rarely at NHS has there been a basketball team with mostly underclassmen taking over.

“I think the underclassmen will play a huge role this year,” said Emma DeFrancesco, a junior. “We lost a lot of our strong seniors from last year. It seems that there will be a lot of incoming underclassmen this season.”

With the number of seniors lost last year, it’s gonna be a significant change.

“It’s a huge change from last year because we had some really strong players that are now in college,” DeFrancesco said. “I’ll miss them a lot but am excited to see how this season will play out with new people.”

With the number of underclassmen this year, communication and teamwork will play a huge role this season. 

“Communication is definitely something we should work on,” DeFrancesco said. “Especially [against] the more competitive schools like Northwestern, we need to communicate as much as possible if we want to win.” 

The girls basketball team has always seen different talents from each player in many different and unique ways.

“Everyone has a unique skill to add to the team,” said DeFrancesco. 

“I believe that underclassmen will play a huge role this year,” said Emma Jackson, a junior forward.

Jackson thinks if they watch the other teams and see how they play, the team will have a better chance of winning the game.

“As a team, we will need to be prepared for what the other team can and most likely do,” Jackson said. “So in order to prepare, we can watch game footage or just know what type of offense or defense they play.”