It hasn’t been a decade of winning for Royalton-Hartland.
A once strong program hasn’t produced a season above .500 since 2012, but that could be changing this season after the Rams jumped out to a 4-0 start. That includes beating Wilson and slashing its seven-year winning streak in the Niagara Orleans League.
Wilson had won 62 league games in a row since falling to Medina in 2018. In the league opener, Roy-Hart served up a 44-42 victory for its first win over the Lakewomen in 26 games, in a gym it hadn’t won in since 2009, Wilson coach Brian Baker’s first season on varsity.
“It was an amazing accomplishment, certainly one that we had talked about as a goal for ourselves, even back in the summer and before the season started,” said head coach Grace Swick, who is also Roy-Hart’s all-time leading scorer.
Swick applauded her team’s defensive efforts against Wilson and added the mental focus and toughness the girls had late in the game to pull out the win. But that was only the first Niagara-Orleans game of the season and there is much more work to do if they want to maintain their undefeated stint and take a run at a championship.
“We know every league game this season is going to be crucial and it’s going to be a tough battle,” Swick said. “So it’s a good celebration, but at the same time if we are satisfied with that or we stop there, that’s not going to be good enough.”
The Rams have not had a winning season since the 2011-12 season when they finished 16-4 overall, 12-2 in league, dropping two of three games to Wilson that season, including one in sectionals. The last time Roy-Hart had at least three wins in a row to start the season was 2009-10, when the team went 5-0 before falling to the Lakewomen.
The 2009-10 team finished 14-4 overall and 10-3 in league play, good for second overall. The Rams haven’t had a truly notable team since winning back-to-back league and Section VI titles in 2004 and 2005 — 20 years ago.
But the hometown kid drawing up plays is on a mission to change that and share her Roy-Hart pride with a roster of girls ready to “buy in” to creating winning traditions again. Pride in the program is something her varsity coach, Don Baker, instilled in her when she was a Ram.
The group is older now and has more experience together, and athletes that used the off-season to their advantage.
“I just think they’re hungry,” Swick said. “You know they wanna do well, they put in a lot of work.”
Swick believes teamwork and versatile play, including a balanced scoring attack and players feeding the ball to each other, will continue to lead Roy-Hart down the right path.
That path is being paved by sophomore Adella Dukes and Courtney Aquilina, with the help of seniors Lila Brigham and Kaitlyn Mettler.
Dukes, who has 51 points so far this season, has played a lot of travel ball and is a jack of all (basketball) trades —- she’s good at passing, she is strong on defense and good with pressuring steals and can make a bucket. The guard netted 22 points in the first game of the season against Alden and is averaging 5.3 rebounds, 5.5 steals, 2.8 assists and 12.8 points per game.
Aquilina, another underclassman, also has experience with travel ball and steps up as forward or center and is becoming more dominant in the paint. She is averaging 7.8 rebounds, 1.3 steals and 11.8 points per game.
Mettler was described as a huge returner to the court for the Rams this season. She took last season off to focus on soccer, but is back displaying her leadership qualities to help advance her team. She’s averaging eight rebounds, 2.3 assists, five steals and 8.3 points per game.
“I don’t think she takes a play off,” said Swick regarding Mettler. “She goes 100 miles an hour the whole time. I think she’s been a nice addition back this year.”
Brigham is averaging 5.7 rebounds, four steals, 2.7 assists and 10.3 points per game in the three games she’s played in.
She’s in her fourth year with Swick and is one of the captains and was applauded by Swick for her leadership capabilities as well, noting how crucial it is for programs to create athletes that become leaders and are confident in themselves.
“I just think first of all having the confidence and belief in themselves, which I think we saw come through in that win versus Wilson,” Swick said, “and also just not being satisfied with a winning record or a mediocre record, really just wanting to improve.”