PORTLAND – When Bill Goodman took over McAuley basketball last spring, he knew he was getting a team that many considered the best in the state.
The defending Class A champions had three starters returning, among them two of the top players in the state — center Alexa Coulombe and guard Allie Clement.
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What he didn’t know until he saw it first-hand was how much his players love the game. That came during the summer, when senior guard Sadie DiPierro ran and dove all over the court, sliding out of bounds, getting floor burns at the Portland Expo.
“Those were games that didn’t mean anything,” said Goodman.
“That’s just the way I play all the time,” said DiPierro. “I guess the most important thing to me is to hustle. You show you want to be out there, you show how hard you play and you’ll be rewarded.”
The rest of the Lions follow DiPierro’s pace. And that’s why they’re 18-0 and seeded first in the Western Class A tournament that continues Monday with the quarterfinals at the Portland Expo.
“When you see one person doing it,” said Clement, “you do it. It catches on and it picks up the tempo of the game.”
This has been a season where Goodman has pushed the young Lions — they have five sophomores and four freshmen — to get better every game, to work on the little things that separate winning from losing. That he has senior captains in Coulombe and DiPierro and a rising star in Clement, each willing to do that every day, makes his job easy.
“I’ve relied on them a lot,” said Goodman.
He lauded DiPierro’s intensity and Coulombe’s calming influence. He praised Clement for her attitude, steady whether she’s having a good game or poor. Most of all, he said their unselfish play has set an example for everyone.
“Every one of them could have shot a lot more,” he said, “but we wouldn’t have had the record we have if we had been more selfish.”
Coulombe, in particular, earned praise. She is heading to Boston College next year to play basketball. She was within reach of 1,000 points in her career this year. Instead, she became McAuley’s best passer.
She averages 12.1 points, 6.7 rebounds and 3.2 assists. Goodman said she’ll finish her career with more than 900 points.
“I don’t really care about that individual stuff,” said Coulombe. “I liked hanging the state banner at our school last year. I want to do it again.”
None of the Lions have big stats: Clement leads them with 12.7 points and 3.3 steals per game. Olivia Smith, a sophomore, averages 9.9 points and 5.5 rebounds.
Coaches always stress team chemistry, its importance and how difficult it can be to create.
That McAuley’s roster consists of players from eight communities hasn’t made it more difficult to come together.
On the contrary, said DiPierro and Clement, it seemed to make it easier. In a small school like McAuley, the students know each other.
On the basketball court, they all learn to rely on each other.
“It’s a little harder at the beginning of the season to come together,” said Coulombe. “A lot of the teams we play have grown up together, they’ve all played on travel teams together. But on our team, especially the older players, we learn how to adapt.
“And the younger players learn to catch on quickly. We’re really all best friends. My senior year has been exactly what I hoped.”
Staff Writer Mike Lowe can be contacted at 791-6422 or at:
mlowe@pressherald.com
Twitter: MikeLowePPH
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