By Ashley Pavlakis
It’s wintertime, so high school sports are transitioning to the indoors. The William Floyd girls’ varsity basketball team is ready to hit the court for the 2024-25 season after reaching the final four of the Section XI Class AAA championship in 2024.
William Floyd is a member of League I in the New York State Public High School Athletic Association (NYSPHSAA). The Colonials joined Class AAA in 2023 after playing in Class AAI for [roughly] 17 years.
The Colonials are led by head coach Rich Sinclair, a Colonial alum in his ninth season at the helm. Sinclair has spent 22 years in the district, coaching at all levels. Sinclair is joined by assistant coaches Mac Campbell and Rob Hodgson. The staff has helped lead the team to back-to-back League I titles and a 19-1-0 record last season.
“Our goal every year is always to just be competitive. Our first goal is to win one game at a time. Obviously, long-term we like to try and get to the playoffs, and once we clinch a playoff spot then we can start setting our sights on hopefully a league title and things like that. That all comes with having the right players in the right positions, senior leadership, parental support, and support from the administration at the school. We don’t have success without the support of the community or the people here,” said Sinclair.
This season, William Floyd has a happy balance of upper and lower classmen on their 16-player roster. Certainly different from 2022 where they had no seniors on the court. Most notably, the Colonials have two eighth graders on their roster this season at the guard position.
“Both [Taleah Coppola and Javeah Stewart] the eighth graders right now are competing for starting spots, they’re both extremely talented. They work very hard in practice, we brought them up for a reason and they’ve demonstrated hard work throughout the offseason, and playing in the summer league with the varsity girls.
I think both of them have extremely bright futures,” said Sinclair.
Defense wins championships, perhaps the oldest phrase in the book but it’s true. Teams do well when they have sound defense, as the objective of any sport is to prevent the other team from scoring.
“We’re going to try and continue to be a defensive first team. Obviously, our first game didn’t go as planned, we gave up fifty-something points, and we usually don’t do that. We’re going to focus on our defense and try to create pressure and try to play a fast breakout up-tempo type of game where we’re getting out onto the open floor and using our athleticism to help us score some easy baskets,” said Sinclair.
Aside from defense, depth is also important. Being able to dig deep into your bench and not have to rely heavily on a few players is huge for any team that has the ability to utilize it.
“Our strength is our depth, we have a roster of 16 and we’ve been playing [roughly] 12 girls most games. It’s nice to have a well-balanced team where we’re able to play multiple girls and not lose too much. In years past we’ve had five starters that played a large majority of the minutes and not as much depth on the bench. This year we have different girls who contribute in different ways,” said Sinclair.
The season has only just begun, but the Colonials are ready to chase another title.
“It’s always nice when we can promote the girls’ sports. I feel like sometimes it’s just not covered enough. You don’t see too much in any local papers really, so it’s nice that you guys are going to be able to do something,” Sinclair told The Messenger.
