The Goffstown Girls Basketball team’s season has just begun.  With their first game on December 20th, the girls are off to a strong start at 4-2 and winning all three of their games during their 2019 Christmas tournament.  Nine of the fourteen players on the varsity team are seniors, making this year their last opportunity to play basketball for Goffstown High School. 

Kelly Walsh and Livi Brannen, seniors on the team, are this year’s captains.  They hope to lead the team to a victorious season while maintaining a positive environment.  Kelly says she is “very confident for this season because of our deep bench and the effort each person gives”.  Steve Largy, head varsity coach for the past three years, has the team cheer “family” before every game because he feels as though the team is its own little family.  He is joined on the coaching staff by Nathan Bracy, who has been the assistant coach and junior varsity coach for the past four seasons, and Cass Lalumiere, who has been the freshman coach for the past two seasons. 

Each game is important to the team, but the two games that are highly anticipated are Bedford and Portsmouth.  Kelly is excited for Bedford because “they are our rival school”. Emma Strong says that she is “most excited to play our senior night game against Portsmouth because I’ve been looking forward to a senior night since I was little and we all really want to beat Portsmouth”.  Both games are towards the end of the season in February.  

Despite the games that are most anticipated, each game is taken very seriously by the team.  In total the varsity team will play eighteen games this season, not including playoffs. Yet, the goal is to not only have a strong regular season, but to go further than that.  “My goal is to win the first round of the playoffs because we have lost every first round since my freshman year.” Emma agrees, but admits that her goal is “to work harder each game”.  

Walsh and Strong are both seniors on the varsity team, making this their last year of school basketball.  Kelly admits she will miss playing with her friends that she has been playing with since she was little. “I’ll for sure miss playing for GHS.  My teammates and coaches have become my family and the memories that I’ve made will never be forgotten,” confesses Emma.