Lakers girls basketball team is on the hunt for the state championship

LAKEVILLE — The Apponequet varsity girls basketball team is making history.

For the first time since 1999, the Lakers are headed to the Final Four of the Massachusetts Interscholastic Athletic Association state tournament.

The Lakers are racing to the top of the bracket in Division 3 of the state tournament after the 44-40 win over Pembroke on Friday. The Apponequet gym roared with excitement as the Lakers held off their opponents in the final minutes, clenching their ticket to the next tournament round.

Head Coach Trevor Gagnier said the squad’s selfless mindset and their focus on elements past offense has continually contributed to the team’s success this year. 

“We're gonna do it our way, and that's playing defense, sharing the ball and having fun doing it,” Gagnier said.

Gagnier said this is the second time the girls basketball team has made it to the final four in the school’s history, “it's pretty special,” he said. About halfway through the regular season — which the Lakers ended with 21 wins and 1 loss — he knew they could do something special this year. 

“We're gonna keep going. We're not done yet,” he said. “We need two more [games] to win this, but we're gonna enjoy it.”

He said the team will soak up their Friday win, but they will be back to watching game-films and practicing over the weekend as they prepare for the next opponent in Pittsfield High School.

Earlier this season, senior players Cece Levrault and Hannah Kuriscak became the first two Lakers in the same grade to score 1,000 career points in Apponequet’s history. 

Kuriscak said hitting that milestone was important to show herself how far she has come.

“I definitely was stressing about it the whole season if I was going to get it or not. It was never a guarantee, but it was good to finally get there,” Kuriscak said.

Levrault said the achievement felt even more special with reaching it as teammates.

“I've been working at this my whole career and playing since I was little. And I mean, to be able to do what my teammate Hannah, it means so much,” Levrault said.

After the close win on Friday and the subsequent rushing of the court from the packed stands, they said it can be hard to stay focused with a roaring crowd. 

“It's kind of hard to, but you honestly just have to tune it out,” Kuriscak said. “You have to pretend there's no noise, or you just pretend the noise is for you.”

The pair said getting to Friday’s game has taken a lot of practice, focus and most importantly — using their close bonds to perform as a cohesive unit on gameday. Kuriscak said the team feels like a “big family.”

For Levrault, the fun the team has together doesn’t get in the way when they need to “lock-in” and focus — it only builds their team dynamics on the court.

“I think that the fun we have brings us together as a team, and builds our team chemistry so much,” she said.

For both senior players, they have made playoff runs before but getting to the Final Four of the bracket is fresh territory. 

“We're not done yet,” Levrault said.”We gotta get back to practice, back to film, and keep grinding. Obviously the goal is to win it all, and I definitely think our team can do that.”

Kuriscak said they will be using everything they’ve learned this season about leaning on each other when the games get tough. 

“The final four is a big jump for us. But we worked hard all season, we’re focused and we know that we can get it done,” she said.