The NEPSAC girls basketball postseason packed a whole lot of action into five short days.
Between Wednesday's quarterfinals and Sunday's championships, we were treated to thrilling back-and-forth games, remarkable comebacks, a bunch of seeding upsets, and a few monumental clutch buckets that shifted the fates of several teams.
Within those contests, the stars of prep hoops brought their best.
Here's our All-Tournament team, focusing on classes AAA through B. It includes players from each of the champions and a star who led her squad up to the final. With this only being a five-player team, however, we also included several important honorable mentions.
Bela Cucuta, Tilton
Class of 2026, 5-10 guard
Hometown: Newington, Conn.
Cucuta's season-long growth as a transfer peaked at the perfect time. She scored a team-high 17 points during Tilton's convincing, 65-43 road win against Tabor in the Class AAA semifinals. Then, in the biggest moment, Cucuta came through, scoring a game-high 22 points to help beat Nobles in the championship. Tilton's offensive consistency against top competition had been one of its bigger question marks this season, and with Cucuta leading the charge, the Rams answered emphatically.
Hannah Lynch also deserves a shoutout for winning the NEPSAC AAA tournament MVP. Her two-way play was similarly critical in Tilton's success.
TILTON'S TIME:Â How the Rams beat Nobles to secure the first AAA championship
Elyse MacDonough, Worcester Academy
Class of 2025, 5-8 guard
Hometown: South Burlington, Vt.
NCAA: St. Bonaventure
MacDonough's will to win manifested in her head bruising and subsequent return during the later stages of the Class AA championship. She still managed a team-high 15 points, helping Worcester Academy come back and beat Darrow in a 59-57 thriller.
Before that, MacDonough gave one more of the many high-octane scoring games she's piled up this winter, tossing in 31 points during the semifinals against Wilbraham & Monson.
FIRST TIME'S THE CHARM:Â First-year coach Dan Sullivan leads Hilltoppers to AA title
Camdyn Nelson, St. Luke’s
Class of 2025, 5-8 guard
Hometown: Greenwich, Conn.
NCAA: Syracuse
Nelson was the most impressive individual from a team that did not take home a trophy in the top four classes. She steered St. Luke's to a quarterfinal road win with a 30-piece against Lawrence Academy, then racked up 23 points as part of a massive comeback semifinal victory over St. George's. Though Nelson's 14 points weren't enough in the Class B championship loss to Rivers, she still showed why she's among the most talented guards in New England.
Grace O'Sullivan, Rivers
Class of 2025, 5-11 guard/forward
Hometown: Acton, Mass.
NCAA: Princeton
This was a coin flip between O'Sullivan and teammate Natalia Hall-Rosa, who I listed in the Honorable Mentions section. Either choice is correct. O'Sullivan logged more than half her team's points (27) and carried Rivers to a 53-45 win against Greens Farms in the quarterfinals. She then scored the game-winning bucket with 2.6 seconds left (off a great pass from Hall-Rosa) in the semifinals against Berkshire and contributed 14 points in the Class B championship win against St. Luke's.
O'Sullivan is such a prolific mover without the basketball. Her voice also clearly carries weight; during the first half of the championship, when Rivers and St. Luke's went back and forth, O'Sullivan was corralling the team in huddles and leading communication. She averaged. 18 points, eight rebounds and five assists in the playoffs.
LOCKDOWN EFFORT:Â Defense paved the way to a Class B title for Rivers
Alicia Mitchell, Loomis Chaffee
Class of 2025, 6-3 center
Hometown: Springfield, Mass.
NCAA: Columbia
It's hard to set one player apart on a Loomis Chaffee team that shares the load so evenly across its top players. But Mitchell was the piece opposing teams had to gameplan around, and she still delivered. In the championship, despite battling foul trouble, she contributed a team-high 12 points along with nine rebounds and three steals to spearhead a 51-45 win against Sacred Heart. Mitchell's real statement came occurred against Hotchkiss in the semfinals: a monster 22-point, 20-rebound double-double effort.
FOUR-PEAT FEVER:Â How Loomis Chaffee sustained its Class A dominance with a championship win
Honorable mentions:Â Natalia Hall-Rosa (Rivers), Saige Youngberg (Worcester Academy), Ashley Dinges (Nobles), Maddie Pepra-Omani (Darrow), Aisha Salem Hassan (Sacred Heart), Hannah Lynch (Tilton)
