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Weston High girls basketball coach Dan Rosen is honest. He didn't see his team's 6-0 start coming. "Not in my wildest dreams,'' the first-year coach said after Tuesday's 33-25 win over Joel Barlow.
Rosen, a former assistant with the boys team at Weston, has the only unbeaten team in the South-West Conference. The Trojans still have many difficult games left in the demanding SWC, where Lauralton Hall of Milford, Masuk of Monroe, Bridgeport's Kolbe-Cathedral and Pomperaug of Southbury have been the league's kingpins. Weston's perfect start has put them in the conversation with the league's elite.
"I've got great kids who want to become great basketball players,'' Rosen said. "They've bought into what (assistant coach Anne Balouskas) and I are doing."
Rosen came into the season with a solid nucleus. Senior captains Hannah Hutchins, Dakota Sloop and Christina Welsh played significant minutes last year. So did junior Ellie Martin, who leads the team in scoring with 14.5 points per game. The team lost 1,000-point scorer Brittany Swanson, an all-state player. But in stepped her sister, Taylor, a sophomore who has cracked the starting lineup.
"It's awesome,'' Martin said after Tuesday's win over Barlow. "To tell you the truth, I couldn't see us getting off to a start like this. I knew we had a strong team because of who we had coming back, but I didn't see us 6-0. I'm really glad for the seniors. They've worked hard for this."
Weston had a narrow one-point win over Wilton, but most of its games have not been close. They won nonleague games over Oxford and New London by more than 20 points and have defeated league rivals Immaculate and Newtown. The Wildcats have a rematch Friday against Newtown.
Martin is also averaging 10.7 rebounds per game, while Hutchins and Welsh are averaging double figures in points. Weston is also becoming known for its defense. It is surrendering just 32.2 points per game.
Weston reached the second round of the Class M tournament last winter and is on its way to making the post-season field again this year. From the looks of things, the Trojans might have some serious staying power.
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