KP Girls Hoops on the Rise

Last winter was tough for Amy Siggens when she took over the King Philip girls basketball program. She was trying to assess her new team and she knew the team was trying to figure out their new coach. Now in her second season, both the coach and the athletes are ready to take to the court against the rest of the Hockomock League.
“Last year was difficult, but this year I think that we are ready to play,” Siggens said. “We have a great group of young kids who are doing what they need to do to be successful and I fully believe in them. The girls are committed to building this team and it has translated to their play on the court.”
Playing in the Hockomock League is not going to be a cakewalk, but the second-year coach has the utmost faith in her squad.
“It’s a flip of a coin playing in the Hock; any day, any team can win,” the coach said. “It will be interesting to see where we fall. We know what it is like to be kicked and pushed around, but it’s not going to happen this year. We plan on fighting through everything.”
Leading the Warriors into battle will be senior captains Julia Leroux (guard), Kendall Mason (forward), Shannon O’Connor (guard) and Catherine Cummings (center). Siggens will primarily be looking for leadership from her quad-captains, but she also wants the girls to be consistent and pass down what the program is trying to build for the future.
Cummings is 5’11” but has been taking on her share of much taller girls at the center position. Siggens says the senior has been holding her own against the other centers in the league. Taylor Butler will come off the bench to spell Cummings throughout the games, while Mason could also step in to play the position if needed.
Offensively the Warriors will rely on junior Faye Veilleux to provide the scoring for KP. Currently the junior is averaging 14 points per game, while pulling down 8.5 rebounds. Last winter O’Connor was the team’s top scorer with Veilleux on the bench due to an injury. Both will be looked upon heavily to find the scoring touch to lead the Warriors into the postseason.
“With Faye back it will take a lot of the pressure off Shannon to be the only one to score,” the KP Coach said. “The two are playing together now, but Shannon was hurt during the beginning of the season. Both can score inside or become an outside threat.”
Another athlete in which the Warriors can take the court and expect to score is Faith Roy, a three-point threat. Siggens is looking to push the junior out of her comfort zone outside the circle and move her game inside to become another dual threat.
While Siggens is looking to have the team improve over the following year, she has been quite impressed with the entire team in general thus far.
“We came in with a commitment this year,” she said. “The freshman and sophomores that have been moving up through the system will be the building blocks to the future. This entire team has really surprised me with how hard they have been working while committing to the process.”
One of the younger athletes that demonstrated to the coach she is willing to take the next step has been Brianna James. The sophomore came into the season having done a lot of off-season work and it shows.
In addition to James, the rest of the younger athletes are all dialed in and excited about the future of King Philip basketball. As the squad continues to build the program, Siggens has liked what she has seen so far.
“King Philip should be making some noise in the very near future. Much more than they have already done this season,” the Warrior coach said.