NDA Rebels' basketball was 'kind of magical'

By BILL DOYLE
CFP Correspondent

WORCESTER - When Avery Marzo was a sophomore at Shrewsbury High School two years ago, she started for the girls varsity basketball team.
Unfortunately, due to the pandemic, her team played only six games and she thought too many of her classes were conducted remotely. That same year, her sister Hannah was a senior at Notre Dame Academy. She played more than twice as many basketball games and nearly all of her classes were held in person.
“I saw that my sister was having such a great experience and thriving there,” Avery said. “They weren’t remote, that was the biggest thing. So I decided to transfer.”            
Avery is certainly glad that she did. You might say that following her sister to NDA was in her DNA. This winter, she led the NDA girls basketball team to the Central Mass. Athletic Directors Association Class C championship and to the Division 4 state semifinals. Avery led Central Mass. with 542 points to finish with more than 1,000 in her career and she also ranked second this season in Central Mass. in scoring average at 22.6.
She scored 33 points in a triple-overtime 58-56 victory over Cohasset in the state quarterfinals. Then she scored 18 for the No. 4 Rebels in a 60-43 loss to No. 1 Boston Cathedral High School in the state semifinals on Wednesday, March 15.
The loss snapped a 12-game winning streak for 20-5 NDA.
“Obviously, after the game last night,” Avery said Thursday, “I was so so sad and disappointed, but when I woke up this morning I realized that our team, we made history at NDA getting to the Final Four, ending the season at 20-5 and that’s something I could have never thought would happen.”
Avery was thrilled when Ivana Kostic was hired as NDA girls basketball coach this season.
“When I heard she was going to be our new coach, I was so excited,” Avery said, “because I knew the knowledge and experience she had and I knew I would be able to grow as an individual player and also a team player. I didn’t know what to expect going into it because I didn’t know how the practices would be run or what her values were, but I couldn’t have asked for a better coach.”
Ms. Kostic, who was born and raised in Serbia, played professional basketball in Copenhagen, Denmark, for a decade while also coaching elite teenage boys and girls basketball. She earned the highest coaching certification from FIBA, the world governing body for basketball.
Her former teammate in Denmark, Sarah Mahan Brandt, is an assistant coach at Sutton High School and she urged Ms. Kostic to apply for the NDA coaching job after she moved to New Hampshire.
Ms. Kostic coached at a higher level in Denmark and had to adjust to working with girls at NDA who weren’t as skilled.
“But these female athletes are such warriors,” she said. “I never had a team that worked harder to the point where we won games just because we never gave up.”
Avery said Ms. Kostic taught her how to add a stop-and-pop mid-range jumper to her repertoire.
            “I’ve learned how to take my game to a whole different level with my confidence,” she said, “and being able to be a leader on my team and she has so much knowledge of the game and skills.”
“She’s a winner,” Ms. Kostic said. “She will do anything to win. She’s such a hard worker, sometimes too hard on herself. She’s always in the gym shooting. There’s no secret in that. If you want to be a shooter, there’s no shortcuts. That’s how I was.”
With her father, Joe, rebounding for her, Avery took at least 200 shots a day on the halfcourt basketball court in their backyard the past couple of summers and sometimes in the NDA gym after school. If she had enough time, she shot until she made 200 shots.
The Rebels ran the fast break well this season and relied on the 3-point shooting by Avery, drives to the basket by sophomore point guard Addison Pong, and production under the basket by senior forwards Ella Bradshaw, Dana Woodward and Zoe Davenport. Ella’s put-back basket gave NDA a 26-25 lead in the third quarter in the state semifinals before Boston Cathedral’s press wore the Rebels down.
Senior Maddie Kay and junior Maddie Dugan were the team’s top two reserve guards for Ms. Kostic and assistant coach Eric Rodriguez.
NDA trailed Tyngsborough by 12 points in the CMADA championship game, but Zoe had four steals in the last few minutes to help the Rebels rally for a 54-47 victory.
Notre Dame Academy’s gym seats only 325, too small to host CMADA or state playoff games. So, the Rebels played their first two CMADA games and their first three state tournament games at St. John’s High School in Shrewsbury and won them all. To get acclimated to St. John’s gym, the Rebels practiced there for a couple of weeks.
“I understand why, but it is a little bit sad that we cannot use our gym,” Ms. Kostic said, “but it’s good that we have St. John’s, who are very supportive.”
“It doesn’t really bother me,” Avery said, “because I feel that I can play anywhere and playing at St. John’s is a better environment because it’s a bigger gym. Of course, we would love to be on our home court at Notre Dame, but we executed greatly at St. John’s so I think we’re all happy that we had the opportunity to play there.”
NDA advanced to the state semifinals for the first time since 2016, although the state tournament was run differently then. Until recently, the Western Mass., Central Mass., Eastern Mass. North and Eastern Mass. South champions qualified for the state semifinals. NDA won its only Central Mass. championship in 2016 in Division 2 and then lost a state semifinal.
The CMADA championship was NDA’s first Central Mass. basketball title of any kind since 2016.
“It was kind of magical,” Ms. Kostic said.
The Rebels learned a lot about basketball, teamwork and life from Ms. Kostic, but she said she also learned from them.
“They taught me to be patient,” Ms. Kostic said, “and to understand that not everyone will be a professional basketball player, but there has to be a balance. It is about winning, but it’s mostly about working together as a team and respecting each other.”
NDA athletic director Caitlyn Germain said Ms. Kostic has been a “tremendous asset” for the basketball program and a role model for the student athletes.
“The way that she trains, they’re challenging, organized practices,” Ms. Germain said. “Beginning of practice, end of practice, she’s always checking in how they’re doing. They’re setting goals not only for basketball, but for them to be successful beyond basketball.”
Avery’s only regret about transferring to NDA was not doing it soon enough to play with Hannah. But next year, they’ll be teammates on the women’s basketball team at Trinity College in Hartford. As a sophomore this season, Hannah helped Trinity post the best record in school history, 25-6, and reach the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division 3 Tournament for the first time. Trinity lost in the quarterfinals to Smith College where NDA graduate Ellie Potvin is a senior captain.
Neither Joe nor Sue Marzo played high school basketball, but both of their children will play college basketball – together.
“It’s pretty crazy,” Avery said. “I’ve always looked up to my sister and when she started playing I wanted to try it out and fell in love with the sport.”
Avery also followed in her sister’s footsteps in becoming a straight A student.
“I never got to play with her in high school,” Avery said, “which was heartbreaking because I’ve always wanted to play with her, but now I get to play with her in college so it’s even better.”
The NDA middle school basketball team also enjoyed a successful season. The NDA and St. John’s seventh- and eighth-grade basketball teams both won the New England Qualifying Tournament, an event for Catholic schools in the Diocese of Worcester, and advanced to play in the Region 1 Championship Tournament in Providence at the end of March.
 

SUBMITTED PHOTO: Avery Marzo, a Notre Dame senior, plays against Tyngsborough at Worcester State University.