During his annual wrap-up of the season, Darnel Barnes was able to utter those two magical words that every coach loves to say but dreads to hear: “Everybody’s back!”

Unfortunately, he wasn’t able to quit while he was ahead. There’s always another pressing question a head coach must answer about his team once the curtain has dropped on the season, that being its final record. And in tallying up the wins and losses from the past winter’s campaign, the Big Green girls basketball coach concluded the count in three words that every coach dreads to say but loves to hear: “five and seventeen.”

Expounding on the good news first, Barnes will have plenty of familiar faces for at least one more go-around next winter, as this year’s roster had an overload of underclassmen. And despite the record, Deerfield handed out its share of hoop halos.

Libby Murray (14), who at 5-10, served time at both power forward and small forward, earned a berth on the Western New England Girls Basketball League All-Star team for the third consecutive year. She made the grade by leading the team in rebounds, averaging nearly seven a game. For the first time in three years, however, Murray didn’t finish atop the team’s scoring charts. This season, she averaged nearly eight points per game, dropping to second on the list behind Becca Harrington (14).  Harrington, a versatile piece in Barnes’s backcourt, played both shooting guard and point guard and was named winner of the team’s Keller-Birrell Award. She poured in an average of nearly a dozen points a game, while she also averaged two rebounds, two assists and three steals a game.

Joining Murray up front were a pair of 6-0 sophomores in Kate Ginna and Caroline Ashford. Ginna averaged nearly six points and six rebounds a game, as well as a pair of steals every time she suited up. Ashford, meanwhile, averaged four points and five rebounds per night. Caroline Coppinger (16) proved to be one of the team’s top defensive specialists, as she would lock onto the opponent’s top-shooting guard and make her life miserable.  She averaged about two steals a game and also chipped in a pair of rebounds per night.

Another key contributor for this year’s Big Green team was Dana Barry (14), who averaged four points and three rebounds a game while playing underneath the boards and earned the team’s award as its Most Improved Player for her efforts. Another young forward was Kemi Akande (15) who collected a nightly average of three points, three rebounds and three steals.

“Our strong points this year were our defense and our heart,” said Barnes. “The kids might have gotten behind on the scoreboard this season, but they never gave up until the final buzzer. I’m very proud of these kids for that trait and I know it’s one of the building blocks we’ll use for next season.

“Offensively,” added the Big Green coach, “ we just have to learn how to find the open player on the court … we need to distribute the ball more. We struggled in that department this season and the opposition was able to take advantage of that fact.” 

There’s a youth movement going on in the Big Green girls basketball program and guessing from the seven sophomores and three freshmen who earned a spot on this winter’s roster, that youth movement is here to stay for a while.

With such an abundance of youth, this Deerfield squad experienced some growing pains, as it finished the season with a 6-15 record, “but with a few less injuries, we could have easily turned things around and finished at 15-6,” said coach Darnel Barnes of his squad which dropped six of those 15 setbacks by a margin of 10 or fewer points.

Despite the youthfulness of his squad, however, Barnes admitted that he wouldn’t have been totally surprised if his Big Green had ended up at 15-6. And that’s because this youth movement began last season and he welcomed back his top two scorers and his No.1 rebounder to the fold.

Libby Murray (14) led the Deerfield scoring charts for the second straight season, knocking down an average of 8.5 points a game. The 5-10 forward also hauled down an average of seven rebounds a game and together, they earned her a berth on the Western New England Girls Basketball League All-Star team.

Becca Harrington (14), who was situated in the backcourt, was the Big Green’s second leading scorer this winter, as she pumped in an average of seven points a game. Joining Harrington in the backcourt were seniors Ali Schulz, Tierney Griff and Laura Whitehill. Both Schulz and Griff ended up sharing this year’s Coaches Award, while Whitehill took home the team’s Most Improved Player Award.

Another member of the sophomore class is center Caroline Ashford, who, at 6-0, led the team in rebounding as a freshman and was doing the same this winter, as well as averaging six points a game, until a separated shoulder sidelined her for most of January. Kate Ginna (14), who stands in at 5-10, took over the slot and “did a very nice job,” according to Barnes, as she averaged six points and five rebounds a game during her stint.

Barnes had a deep team this year and the youth movement will ensure he has plenty of depth to choose from next season as well. Junior Liz Byrne will be found in the backcourt once again, as will sophomore Tally Behrionger and freshman Caroline Coppinger. Up front, youngsters such as sophomores Kay Kay Ali, Lili Brown and freshman Kemi Akande will give Barnes plenty to choose from.