Highlander hoop girls a young team, but show strong defense

WEST MILFORD — The West Milford Highlander girls basketball team has had success in recent years, culminating with a talented senior-heavy squad for the 2005-2006 winter season. This year, there is a new look West Milford making the scrimmage rounds this year, preparing for the 2006-2007 season. “I graduated seven seniors last year. So this is a young group. We lost about 95 percent of our offense. I only have three kids who played any significant amount of varsity time,” said head coach Ray LaCroix. “So we are very young. We have a couple of sophomores, but primarily we have kids who don’t have any varsity experience. There is going to be a learning process as we go along. I have some pretty decent athletes that I hope to strong for us. Especially defensively.” The turnover has caused the coach to alter his approach. “This year, we are focusing on keeping it simple. Obviously I’ve had turnover, but not seven seniors. I have never lost seven seniors before. And I have never ever been in a position where I’ve had to replace five starters. I have always had one or two or three left over. This year I’ve got zero. That is a new experience for me and that has forced me to change a little of what I do coaching wise,” LaCroix said. “Last year we did a lot of set plays. I threw all of that out. We are working on one or two basic sets. We are going to keep it as simple as possible and try to build from there.” Fortunately for the Highlanders, this isn’t LaCroix’s first time at the dance. “This is my sixth year at West Milford. Before West Milford I was the head coach at Ramapo high school. This is my fifteenth year coaching girls basketball at the high school level,” the Highlander skipper said. “I love it. The coaching I enjoy. I got great kids all through out, including this year. That is what keeps me coming back.” Beyond having a young team, LaCroix knows the lay of the land for his squad doesn’t make things easier. “Our conference is very tough. We went from having the oldest team last year to having the youngest. I think our goals are to be competitive and if we are then the wins will come. I told the girls we have an opportunity to sneak up on people this year. Last year people talked about West Milford. This year no one is looking at us,” he said. “Nobody knows who we are and the bottom line is none is going to be able to name many kids from our team. That presents a challenge and an opportunity.” Running under the radar is a little different than having the bulls eye on their back like they had in years past. “I think everybody like to go underneath the radar. To be honest with you, we had a bulls eye on our back last year and we didn’t live up to it. The thing about having the bulls eye means you have a good team. We’ve been in two county semi-finals and we’ve accomplished some things over the last several years,” LaCroix said. “This year is the most under the radar I have been, certainly since I have been here.” Despite the challenges, West Milford is anticipating a competitive and successful winter campaign. “We are going to be a defensive oriented team because that is going to be ahead of our scoring. We are going to see how it goes, but we are looking to be competitive,” LaCroix said. “They are a great group of kids, they work hard and their attitude has been fantastic. I can’t complain, honestly. We are going to have fun and the teaching fun has been great. There is a lot we have to learn, but we are enjoying getting there.”