By Marc Thaler
Staff Writer

If a speedometer was used to measure Manchester West girls varsity hoops, the gauge would only have one reading: maximum velocity. Quite simply, the Blue Knights were built to play at full tilt.

UP AND UNDER – West junior Alyssa Thayer lofts a finger roll under the outstretched arm of Central junior Meghan McGlore during first-quarter action. Thayer finished with 17 points on the night as West won, 78-65, for the Blue Knights’ fourth victory of the season. (Marc Thaler Photo)

“We will be fun to watch this year,” said West head coach Don Pinard. “I don’t know how many games we’ll win (playing at this pace), but it’ll be entertaining.”

West completed the 2004 portion of its 2004-05 Class L regular-season schedule perfectly, improving to 4-0 heading into the holiday hiatus after beating city rival Manchester Central at Quinn Gymnasium on Dec. 21, 78-65.

The Blue Knights, in a close contest with the winless Little Green through three-plus quarters, applied extra pressure to the pedal midway through the fourth to turn a 58-57 lead with 4:21 remaining into a 13-point victory.

“West is just a fantastic team that really gets up and down the floor,” said Central head coach Mike Wenners, whose girls matched their hosts for much of the night. “They have two or three girls who are just tremendous passers – and we knew that. In the end, we just ran out of gas.”

The Blue Knights’ backcourt tandem of senior Stephanie Houghton and junior Alyssa Thayer once again serve as the club’s catalysts. Like last season, both have the ability to create shots for themselves off the dribble. Unlike last season, however, the duo is doing a better job of finding open looks for others.

“They are finding their teammates,” Pinard said. “Both can shoot well. But on nights where they aren’t getting shots to fall, they’re finding people who are.”

While the Houghton-Thayer combination might draw the most attention from the competition, West is far from a two-player team. Add sophomore guard Abigail Pinard into the mix and the Blue Knights have a tremendous trio of players directing traffic.

“When we put her at the point, that allows Houghton and Thayer to create off the wing,” the West head coach said. “That causes other teams a lot more problems. Obviously, I think I have three guards who can run the point at any given time.”

Although his team can – and will – stop and pop from anywhere in the gym, Pinard wants West to incorporate a low-post game into its attack. But with only four girls cracking the 5-foot-10 barrier – juniors Juline Jeffrey, Morgan Major and Allison Smyrl, plus sophomore Amanda Kania – speed is West’s biggest weapon.

“When you’re running as much as we are, it’s kind of hard to get away from that,” said Pinard, whose Blue Knights also include sophomore Yuma Haidara and freshmen Samantha Brown and Jacqueline Theroux. “The girls work at such a frenetic pace, it’s tough to ask them to pull back.”

Against West, the Little Green machine showed it can play the up-tempo game, too. Also a young squad, Central isn’t afraid to shoot the rock from the perimeter or drive to the goal.

“They’re very young,” Pinard said of Central. “I didn’t realize they can shoot as well as they did against us. They can shoot the lights out.”

In truth, Central’s early season Class L record of 0-3 through Jan. 3, provides no indication of the problems the girls present for opponents.

Sophomore standout Whitney Fremeau, a certified “phenomeattack and the only returning player to garner any true varsity time last season.

Against West, Fremeau scored 31 of her team’s 65 points, including 19 in the first frame, which helped the Little Green to an early 28-20 edge after eight minutes.

“She’s a 32-minute player,” Wenners said of Fremeau. “She competes every time she goes out there. And she works that hard in practice, too.

“In fact, all the girls are like that,” he added. “They give it their best. It’s never a question of effort, just inexperience.”

In addition to Fremeau, the Little Green team includes senior Lindsay Guidoboni; juniors Stacy DiSabato, Laura McGee, Meghan McGlore and Brittney Norton; sophomores Missy Clayton, Chelsea Drew and Megan Montville; and freshmen Alicia Doucet and Catherine O’Neill.

“Being a young team, we’re trying to find our style,” Wenners said. “We’re not big, so a half-court set is probably not our strength. Right now it’s a trial-and-error period.”