February 5, 2025

Sparked by McNally’s Perimeter Shooting, Hun Girls’ Hoops Primed for Postseason Run

ADDING UP: Hun School girls’ basketball player Addi McNally dribbles upcourt in a game last season. Last Wednesday, junior guard McNally tallied 16 points to help Hun defeat Stuart County Day 68-46. The Raiders, who topped Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) 65-52 last Saturday to improve to 20-5, were slated to host the Perkiomen School (Pa.) on February 4 before starting action in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) tournament next week. (Photo by Frank Wojciechowski)

By Bill Alden

Addi McNally came out firing as the Hun School girls’ basketball team hosted Stuart County Day School last Wednesday.

Sharp-shooting Hun junior guard McNally drained three 3-pointers in the first three minutes of the contest, helping the Raiders jump out to an 18-0 lead.

“I think it was a mindset for all of us,” said McNally. “We went in thinking we have to put everything into it. It got us to hit our shots.”

The Raiders hit some rough patches with sloppy play as they held off a feisty Stuart squad on the way to a 68-46 win.

“We turned the ball over a little too much,” said McNally, who ended up with 16 points in the win. “We need to improve when it comes to higher competition games.”

McNally’s mindset is to keep putting up shots. “I think my role is just being a 3-point shooter, any time I have my shot it is be ready,” said McNally. “I have gotten to be a lot better at defense and rebounding this year. I work a lot on balance on my shot and then ball-handling, and conditioning.”

Playing field hockey in the fall helps McNally gear up for hoops.

“I think helps me a lot with the transition to basketball season,” said McNally. “I think overall athletically, playing two sports has helped me in both sports like with plays and everything.”

Hun head coach Sean Costello liked the way his team started against Stuart.

“We can shoot the ball pretty well,” said Costello. “When given the opportunity in transition, we can knock them down. They tend to come in bunches. We did a good job of moving the basketball so they find the open shot. It started off really well for us, I think we hit six 3-pointers right at the beginning.”

Costello credited McNally with opening things up with her outside shooting.

“Addi has always been able to stretch the floor,” said McNally.

“I think what she has found is some constancy in that ability. She has really grown into it. Gabby does an extraordinary job finding Addi. When Addi gets going, she has had a game where she had six 3s, she has had a game where she had seven. When she gets going, she can get really hot. It helps that they are really good friends. it is alway fun to play with a friend. They have definitely developed a really strong chemistry, they find one another when they are open.”

Junior guard D’Agostino produced another strong game for the Raiders against Stuart, tallying a game-high 31 points.

“Gabby is just very good,” said Costello, who got 36 points from D’Agostino last Saturday as Hun defeated Mercersburg Academy (Pa.) 65-52 to improve to 20-5. “What you are seeing this year is her ability to pass the ball but she scored 35 on Sunday. She can fill it up quickly now. When teams decide to try to take her away, she is finding her teammates and they are able to knock shots down.”

The pair of senior forwards, CeeJay Thomas and Amira Pinkett, have given Hun a solid one-two punch. Thomas tallied 12 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Stuart while Pinkett contributed nine points and 10 rebounds.

“I think they have really fit into a role, they play really well off one another,” said Costello. “We move them around quite a bit. I think they are both really comfortable, playing in the interior, knocking down some shots., and going off the dribble. They have a good sense of what they are supposed to do and how to go about doing that.”

Costello acknowledged that things got a little sloppy for Hun after it built its early lead.

“We didn’t defend well throughout the game, they did some things that really gave us a problem,” said Costello. “Their No. 24 (Taylor States), I thought she just destroyed us in the interior. We didn’t rebound the ball particularly well and we turned it over. I always say we are going to score enough points eventually but what we need to do is defend, rebound the basketball and protect the basketball. Those were our three main areas of focus and we didn’t execute today. I thought Stuart played really well, I think they outworked us on the glass.”

With Hun slated to host the Perkiomen School (Pa.) on February 4 before starting action in the Mid-Atlantic Prep League (MAPL) tournament next week, Costello is looking for his squad to be more focused on the fundamentals.

“We have some really big games coming up that we need to be dialed into,” said Costello. “It feels great, I think the program is in a really good place. We have worked really hard to get it to that. We are playing some good teams. Now it is the games that matter. Now it is those ones where the turnovers need to take care of themselves and where we need to rebound because one possession at the end of the game is the difference between winning and losing. We have been focusing on it, hopefully we can cash in when we need to. It has been a fun season so far.”

McNally, for her part, believes the Raiders can have a lot of fun in the postseason if they take care of things on the defensive end.

“For us it is all about our defense, it leads to our offense,” said McNally. “I think we can keep building from here.”