The upcoming winter promises snowfalls, snowmen, snow days and not to mention, Westford Academy’s Boys’ Basketball team.

Last winter, the boys started the season well.  After a winning streak, the team defeated St. Johns Shrewsbury, 68-51, in the third round of Division 1 Central finals.  It was the first time Westford made it to the States championships since 1968.  They made it to the final four in the state semifinals but unfortunately lost against Putnam.

They ended the season with a grand total of twenty-two wins and only two losses to Cambridge and one against Putnam. 

Led by coach Chris Bramanti, the Boys’ basketball team will return to the courts the week after Thanksgiving. Their aim is to gain even more wins.

“The biggest thing we talk about is being a tough-out. We want to give every other team a hard time,” said Coach Bramanti.

According to Bramanti, he wants the players to have the right mindset to win and the will to practice daily.

Leading the team this season are senior captains Patrick Coffey, Nick Fiorillo and Scotty Callahan. Bramanti believes the captains are well prepared from the previous year.

“The captains this year learned a lot from the [captains] last year. Last two years we’ve had a lot of good captains. So, it’s going to be interesting to see how they are going to lead this team,” said Bramanti.

Bramanti’s motivational philosophy is that everyone is an important member of the program. 

“It’s tougher to defend five players than it is to defend one. Once they step out on the court they [should] feel responsible for their job, their position and if anyone does what they’re supposed to then we’ll be a tough-out team. But if we rely on just one person to do all the work, it doesn’t work out,” said Bramanti

Despite Bramanti’s positive attitude towards the upcoming season, he wants to concentrate on mistakes players made from the past.

“Two of the things that we struggled with last year [were] free throw shootings and layups. We definitely want to improve on that this year,” said Coach Bramanti.

The boys have twenty-two games this season, and they will play multiple games per week.  

”There’s no question [about it]. But they can handle it. They did it last year with twenty-one, [and] I know they want it,” said Bramanti.

Following WA basketball’s legendary slogan,“Don’t be outworked,” Bramanti expects his players to give their best. 

”We come to practice everyday, we work hard and when we go to games, we don’t want to be outworked. We don’t expect anything given to us, we want to earn it and just play hard,” said Bramanti.

The boys’ basketball team’s opening game to the season will be at Wachusett Regional High School against the Mountaineers.