The 2022-2023 season was one of significant improvement for Greenwich Academy’s varsity basketball team, which earned several victories and qualified for the FAA Tournament for the first time since 2019.

Now Greenwich Academy hopes to continue to climb the ladder of success.

“For us, it’s all about building and improving,” Greenwich Academy coach Jordan Griffith said. “This is a group that has seen the competitive level of our league. We are playing some of the tougher teams in the league early on this season and we’re taking some lumps. Hopefully, we’ll continue to grow, improve and get a higher playoff seed this year.”

School of the Holy Child, Masters School, Rye Country Day School and Canterbury School were the teams the Gators defeated during its 2022-2023 season and GA hosted FAA foe Holy Child this past Monday. This time, however, Holy Child was victorious, topping Greenwich Academy, 43-36, in a competitive game throughout.

“It was a really exciting game, Holy Child was really poised and they put the pressure on us at times,” Griffith said. “We have some great athletes, we don’t have a lot of full-time basketball players, so we’re working our way back into some of the skills that are required to win a game like this.”

Junior point guard Ruby Montanez scored eight points, six of which came during the first half and sophomore guard/forward Mirabel Rodgers recorded eight points for Greenwich Academy. Sophomore guard Madison Hurns added seven points, with six points coming in the second half, while center Mallory Walker, also a sophomore, had six points for the young Gators.

Montanez is a captain along with guard Sydney Dettmer, GA’s only senior. The duo are relied upon for points at the guard position. Montanez liked what she saw from the squad in Monday’s game against Holy Child.

“From our past games, we stepped it up,” Montanez said. “We’ve been working on intensity. Our defense – we have gotten really good at it. We’re focusing on keeping our intensity on offense and we’ll get there. We have a great coach, who makes these great plays for us, which helps us we get in our rhythm.”

In Monday’s FAA matchup against Holy Child, the Gators trailed just 20-18 at halftime after Walker grabbed an offensive rebound and scored in the final seconds of the second quarter.

The decisive third quarter led the Holy Child’s victory, however. The visitors outscored GA, 13-4, in the third quarter to open a 33-22 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Greenwich Academy cut Holy Child’s lead back to single digits with a solid fourth quarter. Rodgers scored on a putback, sophomore forward McKenna Brewer made a basket and Dettmer swished a 3-pointer, bringing GA to within 39-30 with 2:52 left in the fourth quarter.

Montanez converted a layup off a steal, cutting Holy Child’s advantage to 39-32, but the Gryphons closed the game out for the win.

“Obviously, it was a tough game with the result, but we’re really putting in the work,” said Dettmer, who has been on the varsity team since she was a freshman. “We’re definitely putting the time in and getting better and today, we played great. We kept the intensity up. On offense, we were getting some good looks in there with Mallory at center. Our wings got great looks at the basket too.”

As Griffith noted, GA has played a lot tough opponents early on in the season. The Gators are 0-6, having lost to Storm King, Miss Porter’s School, Choate Rosemary Hall, St. Luke’s School, Holy Child and most recently to a very competitive Sacred Heart Greenwich team. GA hopes to gain momentum as the season progresses, as it did last winter.

“Hats off to Holy Child, they played a great game and made some big shots down the stretch,” Griffith noted. “We’re looking forward to building off of this.”

Rodgers is coming off a season in which she earned All-FAA Honorable Mention accolades. Montanez missed all of last season with a leg injury, so her return is sparking the team, which graduated five key seniors/contributors from last winter’s squad.

“Ruby is really fierce,” Griffith said. “She controls the game, she is an elite athlete and a great competitor. Sydney Dettmer, a four-year varsity player here, is a great leader.”

“I am the only senior on the team, so it’s super special to be on the team for four years and to be a captain this year,” Dettmer noted.

Said Montanez: “Executing is one of the keys for us. We have our plays and athleticism, so just getting the ball in the hoop is our main priority.”