The Pilgrim girls basketball team made the most of its first year back in Division III in 2018-2019, advancing all the way to the finals and coming up just short to Tolman.

The Lady Pats are hungry to get back to that point and to right the wrong, and seem to be right in the mix considering the amount of roster carryover in 2019-2020.

The Pats return three starters as well as a handful of role players from last season.

“It’s been huge. We have already been putting new stuff in. Last year, it took us three weeks, this year, it took us two days. We aren’t changing a whole lot but we are working on some new things. (The continuity) has been a huge advantage,” said Pilgrim coach Scott Bayha.

“I’m pretty confident in us and think that we are going to make a deep run,” added senior Nadine Ogni, who was last year’s Warwick Beacon Player of the Year. “A lot of us have started, a lot of us came off the bench last year as subs. We are all really comfortable playing with each other, especially since a lot of us really have been together for four years.”

The team has yet to forget the tough ending to last year, which has already given the Pats a chip on their shoulder.

“Most of the girls here have now been through that championship (loss), so we are looking to have a revenge season. That is what’s motivating us, we have been working really hard at practice to get back to the championship and to show that we have what it takes to win it,” said Ogni.

Although coaches sometimes prefer their players to let go of the past, Bayha is happy to see his team rallying behind it.

“I am more of a ‘use it’ person. Getting so close last year, at the first practice we asked if we’d be willing to give up 95 days of their lives to be champions forever and that’s the mindset that they have. It’s still there too, last year wasn’t a failure at all, it was a good season, but I want them to use it as motivation. We came so close last year … I’ve told them, ‘think about the times you took a day off, a play off, that could be the difference this year,’” said Bayha.

The Pats will also look toward the young players to fill out the bench. Fellow senior Tara O’Connor has already seen a strong batch of new faces.

“It has been easy to incorporate the younger kids into the lineup as well. They’ve looked good so far in practice, a lot of them have a lot of basketball experience, they have a lot of potential and should be good (additions) to the team,” said Tara O’Connor.

One big hurdle that Pilgrim will face is on the offensive side of the ball. Despite boasting arguably the toughest defense in the division last year, the Lady Pats struggled shooting throughout the season.

“These girls worked hard over the summer to improve their shooting. That’s been our Achilles heel. Last year, the word got out. Once teams faced us once the word got out to just zone us in,” said Bayha. “We’ve worked on that and we hope that we face that, we’ll be ready to handle that if it comes.”

Senior Hannah French is confident in the team’s offense as well and is looking to finish her final season on top.

“We want to improve our offense. Last year, our shots were horrible. There’s always room for improvement. Losing last year has fueled us to be the best we’ve ever been,” said French. “We want to end our final season with a bang.”