Five Windham Youth Basketball Association teams earned the right to compete in the 2023 New England Basketball Championships held in Providence, Rhode Island from March 17 to 19.
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| Windham's Fourth-grade girls basketball team finished second in the New England Basketball Championships in Providence, Rhode Island, going 3-1 in the tournament. PHOTO BY SHALYN SARGENT |
Each of Windham’s teams, eighth-grade girls, fifth-grade girls, fifth-grade boys, fourth-grade girls and fourth-grade boys earned a bid to participate in this tournament because they won a previous tournament.
The New England Basketball Championships consisted of travel, community and school teams from grades 3 through 8. Each team was guaranteed to play a minimum of four games. Awards went to teams who placed in the first and second divisions.
Windham’s Eighth-grade girls went 1-3 and beat West Hartford Magic in a buzzer beater, 24-23.
“I felt ... unreal,” said Mackenzie Delewski. “We had 2.3 seconds on the clock and we’re down by two [in their game against West Hartford Magic], I fake short and go long as Kiley screens for me and Bella throws it. I jump and grab the ball from the plodding team and take one dribble and shoot. I banked in the three and won the game; all the excitement and cheering was unreal; we just got our first win in Rhode Island!”
Lilly Gallagher said the team has been successful because they’ve grown and are determined to be good players.
Coach Ben Delewski said this season was the perfect blend of happy and sad. He was proud of them for how they competed, but sad that these were the last games as a team.
Windham’s Fifth-grade girls went 1-3 and beat Suncook Spartans, 20-17.
Raegan Magee was confident in her team going in. They are stronger this year than last year. This year has been successful because they have each other and win or lose they still practice together.
“Throughout the season the girls have improved tremendously as far as their skills and the things that they do on the court,” said Coach Lily Cooper. “The biggest thing they’ve improved on is their confidence. It doesn’t matter scores of games; it’s building girl’s confidence more than anything – and my favorite part is them seeing the results of the work they’ve put in.”
Windham’s Fifth-grade boys went 2-2, finished in the top 4 and won their final game against East Hampton, 45-40.
“This year was very different; we had a lot of injuries,” said Coach Steve Depaolo II. “It was a full team effort to continue our success. We’ve been battle-tested all year and the team atmosphere is to have fun and play hard.”
Robbie Sanicola said you can’t do anything with one person; it’s the whole team that has to be together. Everyone played a big part to get this far.
Windham’s Fourth-grade girls finished in second place and went 3-1. They made it all the way to the championship game. Their only loss was to St. Theresa, 23-11, after a hard-fought game.
“The season has been successful because of the growth of the girls,” said Coach Chris Sargent. “In a short time, I’ve seen leaps and bounds. They are all playing their roles very well, a great group of girls and a lot of friendships and memories that’ll last forever. I have a feeling these girls are going to be really something special in the future in Windham.”
Ella Higgins said offense and defense have enabled this team to get this far. She said they had more experience this year compared to last year.
Windham’s Fourth-grade boys went 2-2 over the weekend. In their first game against North Providence they took a big lead in the first half. With roughly 10 minutes left in the second half, Joel Delewski hit five consecutive three-pointers and extended the lead to 20 points. Windham won, 42-27.
“Every player on our roster contributed to our games throughout the weekend,” said coach Joe McLean. “It was a full team effort and the community support down there was amazing; as Windham always had the biggest crowd at each of the games.”
According to Joel Delewski, it felt great to know he was a part of the winning game. He said it also felt good to see and hear the Windham fan’s reactions as well as his coach’s reaction. <
The New England Basketball Championships consisted of travel, community and school teams from grades 3 through 8. Each team was guaranteed to play a minimum of four games. Awards went to teams who placed in the first and second divisions.
Windham’s Eighth-grade girls went 1-3 and beat West Hartford Magic in a buzzer beater, 24-23.
“I felt ... unreal,” said Mackenzie Delewski. “We had 2.3 seconds on the clock and we’re down by two [in their game against West Hartford Magic], I fake short and go long as Kiley screens for me and Bella throws it. I jump and grab the ball from the plodding team and take one dribble and shoot. I banked in the three and won the game; all the excitement and cheering was unreal; we just got our first win in Rhode Island!”
Lilly Gallagher said the team has been successful because they’ve grown and are determined to be good players.
Coach Ben Delewski said this season was the perfect blend of happy and sad. He was proud of them for how they competed, but sad that these were the last games as a team.
Windham’s Fifth-grade girls went 1-3 and beat Suncook Spartans, 20-17.
Raegan Magee was confident in her team going in. They are stronger this year than last year. This year has been successful because they have each other and win or lose they still practice together.
“Throughout the season the girls have improved tremendously as far as their skills and the things that they do on the court,” said Coach Lily Cooper. “The biggest thing they’ve improved on is their confidence. It doesn’t matter scores of games; it’s building girl’s confidence more than anything – and my favorite part is them seeing the results of the work they’ve put in.”
Windham’s Fifth-grade boys went 2-2, finished in the top 4 and won their final game against East Hampton, 45-40.
“This year was very different; we had a lot of injuries,” said Coach Steve Depaolo II. “It was a full team effort to continue our success. We’ve been battle-tested all year and the team atmosphere is to have fun and play hard.”
Robbie Sanicola said you can’t do anything with one person; it’s the whole team that has to be together. Everyone played a big part to get this far.
Windham’s Fourth-grade girls finished in second place and went 3-1. They made it all the way to the championship game. Their only loss was to St. Theresa, 23-11, after a hard-fought game.
“The season has been successful because of the growth of the girls,” said Coach Chris Sargent. “In a short time, I’ve seen leaps and bounds. They are all playing their roles very well, a great group of girls and a lot of friendships and memories that’ll last forever. I have a feeling these girls are going to be really something special in the future in Windham.”
Ella Higgins said offense and defense have enabled this team to get this far. She said they had more experience this year compared to last year.
Windham’s Fourth-grade boys went 2-2 over the weekend. In their first game against North Providence they took a big lead in the first half. With roughly 10 minutes left in the second half, Joel Delewski hit five consecutive three-pointers and extended the lead to 20 points. Windham won, 42-27.
“Every player on our roster contributed to our games throughout the weekend,” said coach Joe McLean. “It was a full team effort and the community support down there was amazing; as Windham always had the biggest crowd at each of the games.”
According to Joel Delewski, it felt great to know he was a part of the winning game. He said it also felt good to see and hear the Windham fan’s reactions as well as his coach’s reaction. <
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