By Christopher Trembay, Staff Sports Writer

As a junior playing for the Ashland Girls Varsity Team, basketball has been part of Ava Vitti’s life since the fourth grade, but it was not something that she intended on pursuing herself; it was something that was involuntarily required of her to take part in.

“Basically, my dad forced me to play basketball because I was scared to try new things,” the Ashland athlete said. “I found that I really liked it, and I felt comfortable playing the sport. At that stage, I joined a club team, the Bay State Jaguars, and I've been with them since.” 

Vitti, who only plays basketball,  went on to say that she feels basketball is unlike any other sport, and she finds it simple – just put the ball in the net, and that comes easily for her. She had tried lacrosse, swimming, and gymnastics, but stopped all of them by the time she entered high school and focused strictly on basketball.

As she got ready to enter the high school, she remembered that the Clockers had a new coach that year, and that they usually reached out to get to know their team, but nothing ever materialized. 

“The coach my freshman year didn’t seem to know any of us, and our team was a bit of a mess, having only won one game,”  Vitti said. “For some reason, we didn’t get along, and after the season ended, I thought about transferring to a private school, but then coach Leslie was taking over the program and decided to stay.”

Under Coach Patrick Leslie's new guidance, Vitti felt the team was in much better shape and was playing at a much higher level. It was this, her sophomore campaign, that she realized that she could reach the 1000-point plateau for the Clockers. 

Following her second year with Ashland, she was over halfway to the magical number of 1000. By the end of her junior season, she should be very close to 900 career points, and she is looking at the beginning of her senior season when she finally eclipses the mark. Every time the junior takes to the gym, she looks at the 1000-point scorer board, where no one has been added to over the last thirteen years. 

It was also during her sophomore season that she received her first college offer from Southern Maine to play basketball for them after she graduated. With the offer, Vitti decided to tour a Division 3 school. There, she found that the school not only had a strong basketball program but also offered the two majors she was considering (nursing or business). Although Southern Maine reached out to the young hoopster, Vitti has not yet accepted anything, as it was too early. After the season, she will sit down and start touring other schools.

Before this year began, Vitti knew she wanted to continue improving her scoring while helping the team make the playoffs, something Ashland hasn’t done in a while. 

“She demands intensity from her teammates,” said Coach Leslie. “As a junior, I expected her to have a good year, especially after being named All-Conference last year. I was looking for more efficiency at finishing at the hoo,p and she definitely came in much better than I expected.”

Vitti brought intensity to the team’s practices and improved their focus on the court. The junior captain, who is saddled with defending the opposition's big scorers, has been scoring herself. Currently, Vitti is averaging17.8 points per game, while adding 6.2 rebounds, 1 block, and 2 steals. She is second in conference scoring and dropped 41 points against Dover-Sherborn earlier in the year.

As a captain, she is looking to help the Clockers win.

“We are a young team and not one that wins a lot of games, although we do have more this year than we did last year,” she said. “We have played competitive basketball with most teams, but we need to beat the teams that we should. It seems like we play up to the tougher teams and sink down to the other teams' level.”

With three games remaining on their schedule, the Clockers have won six games this year and are still hoping to make the State Tournament. However, if Ashland is denied the opportunity, Vitti and her teammate will have another chance next season, a season the coach expects his team to play better.

“With a year under our belts, we should be more successful next year, and that all starts with Ava,” Leslie said. "I am expecting her to make a bigger jump from her junior to senior year while leading us. She will also start to see more and more college offers coming her way.”