Milford Mirror

Saucier leads Law family with heart

Wednesday, 18 January 2012 14:08

Senior guard Nya Ramos called the Jonathan Law girls basketball team “her second family,” after the Eagles found a way to defeat Foran High 55-54 on Thursday night. “We play together, no one is selfish,” Ramos said of the combined effort that helped coach Heather Saucer’s team improve to 6-5.

Two of those losses came in the Shelton Holiday Tournament, when Law was playing short-handed.

When askled if that impacted the team, Ramos said:

“When we are whole and play as one, we can be good. We’re not going to worry about those two losses. There is a lot of season left. We’re starting fresh, we’ll call us 1-0.”

Saucier can’t get enough of coaching this team.

“We picked up nine boards in the fourth quarter,” she said of the come-from-behind victory.

“Second-chance points have been a killer for us. We don’t have a player over 5-7, but [we] have hearts the size of watermelons.”

Ramos, Kim Legen, Jackie Kochiss and Phoebe French are Saucier’s first graduating class of players, who came in when she took charge of the program.

“I think as a team we are hard to defend,” she said. “We’re not one-dimensional, with Kim and Phoebe on the wings and Nya and Jackie able to drive and shoot.

“What I’m most proud of is that we’ll fight you the same if we’re up by two [points] or down by 50. We’ll leave you black and blue trying.”

Saucier’s fondness emcompasses her entire team.

“Because we’re undersized, we have to play big. Catie [Miller] doesn’t like me to say this, but she’s like 4-11 and plays like she’s 6-4,” Saucier said of her junior guard.

“Sam Murphy [a junior] and Jackie did a great job down the stretch getting us those defensive rebounds.

“Teams with size can overcome mistakes. Defense gives us offense. I asked this team to give me two minutes of perfection [at the end of the Foran game]. It is what we strive for every game.

“This group truly cares for one another. When I’m disappointed; they hurt. When they let a teammate down; they hurt.

“By no means are these players perfect, but they are perfectly mine.

“I wouldn’t trade this team for any other.”

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