Girls’ Varsity Basketball traveled to Loomis Chaffee on March 8 to compete in the NEPSAC Class D Championship against Vermont Academy. On the biggest stage, the Gators rose to the occasion, securing a thrilling 64–62 victory and capturing their first-ever Class D title.

The team finished the job in outstanding fashion, but it was the work that led up to their win that made their season that much more impressive.

The team experienced a resurgence in the 2023-2024 season, picking up some big wins on their way to an IGC Championship appearance. Although they fell short to Landmark in the championship, the team looked primed for significant improvement in the near future. 

Heading into his second year with the program, Coach Courtney Sims wanted to elevate the team drastically. Sims, the founder of AAU program Team Sims, recruited a few girls out of the program to come to Brimmer to reap the benefits of the school’s education and athletics. 

The team brought in 4 new players, seventh graders Elliana Barros and Corey Sims, eighth grader Jaliah Duplessy, and freshman Avery Wozniak. Combining this budding talent with sophomores Alexa Dykeman and Yazmine Demeter, as well as senior Kaylee Rivera, the Gators were looking to make some noise not only in the IGC, but in NEPSAC as well. 

Coach Courtney Sims highlighted the challenge of dealing with the lack of high school playing experience on the team.

“I knew no matter how better skilled they were than other teams the physicality was gonna be tough for them, because we had 13, 14, and 15 year old girls, and even our older girls are fairly new to stuff.” Sims explained.

After starting off the season with two big losses to St. Andrews and Milton Academy, two NEPSAC AA teams loaded with upperclassmen, the girls bounced back as they entered league play, rattling off 15 straight wins en route to a IGC championship win over Montrose. 

Sims emphasized some of the challenges that the team faced throughout the season this year, and how he used adversity to help enhance his team’s fundamentals.

“We were so short with players, we couldn’t really go five on five, four on four or anything.” Sims explained. “We couldn’t really go live in practice, so I worked on skills like shooting, dribbling, all that stuff.” 

After capturing the IGC championship in a 85-49 victory against Montrose, the Gators faced a new task being the #2 seed in the NEPSAC Class D tournament. After a semifinal win against The Hyde School, the girls looked to end off their astounding season by playing a highly talented opponent in Vermont Academy.

In the third quarter of the game, the girls faced a daunting challenge, as they went down by as many as 12 points. The team responded emphatically as they clawed back and sealed the game with an Elliana Barros three pointer to give the Gators an historic championship win. 

Kaylee Rivera 25’ described how the adversity the girls faced in the championship helped them rise to the occasion.

“It was pretty hard, because these girls have worked so hard and to be down by 12 was kind of hard.” Rivera said. “We never realized how hard this tournament was going to be, even though we were going in as the higher seed.”

Sims is clear on what helped the girls achieve an astounding comeback.

“We hold them accountable the whole year.” Sims said. “No matter if they were up by 40 or if we’re losing to St. Andrews by 25 and there was only a minute left in the game, I’m still coaching like it’s still a real game—like we have a chance to win and we’re playing all the way down to the buzzer.”

As the Gators swept through Class D and the IGC this past season, they face a new challenge next year as they plan on being promoted to the NEPSAC AA conference. This promotion in conference will bring heavily an improved level of competition, and a new opportunity for the team to test their skills among the best teams in New England.

As the team goes into the off-season and rapidly improves, Sims said, it will be exciting to see how they build on this year’s foundations.

“I’m not expecting us to like go in there right away and win a double A championship right away or nothing like that.” Sims said. “It’s going to be growing pains. It’s a process and I don’t mind the process.”