WAKEFIELD — The Middlesex League girls’ basketball coaches met recently to vote on All-Stars for the 2024-25 season.
Wakefield had three All-Stars selected this season: senior captains Brooklyn Calder and Shea Suntken and junior Emma Ickes.
The Warriors won the Middlesex League Freedom Division title for the fourth consecutive year, concluding the regular season with an overall record of 15-5 and league record of 13-3.
Calder earned All-Star status for the third consecutive season, also making the list as a sophomore and a junior.
“Brooklyn is really a jack of all trades. She can shoot, handle the ball, is an unbelievable defender and a great rebounder,” said head coach Jason Pavey. “She’s a guard but is great in the post.
A lot of our stuff was trying to get her the ball down there. She’s a gym rat and a real competitor. People think being an All-Star is all about your offensive stats and production-which Brooklyn has. But the league also recognizes her as a phenomenal defensive player who disrupts everything.
“She’ll be missed. I don’t know what next year will look like without her because she played more minutes than anyone I’ve coached since I’ve been here.”
Suntken earned her second straight All-Star selection.
“Shea was another great two way player for us,” said Pavey. “She’s super physical and when she gets a full head of steam in transition she is virtually impossible to stop. Some of our ‘best offense’ was Shea grabbing a defensive rebound and just going coast to coast. “The games at Lexington and against Reading — two really good teams — she was the best player on the court.”
In addition to their play on the court, Calder and Suntken were strong leaders. The two were captains along with seniors Jade Waterhouse and Aliza Margolis.
“They all provided great leadership and showed the younger kids what the standard and commitment level for this program is all about,” said Pavey of his captains, who were all four-year varsity players, each playing a big part in Wakefield’s four straight league titles. They finished their Warrior hoop careers with an overall record of 66-22.
Ickes led the Wakefield frontcourt this season, earning her first All-Star nod.
“Emma kind of rounds out this Big 3 of All-Stars,” said Pavey. “She got a lot of attention from other teams because she was our tallest player and only true post player. With that said, she can shoot it from the outside and has the potential to be a really good shooter from out there next season.
“Emma also stepped up this year and rebounded for us in key moments. She’s a tough kid who loves the game and doesn’t shy away from competition. For her to be named an All-Star in a league that was dominated by seniors is a huge accomplishment. We’re lucky we have her for one more year.”
Together, Calder, Suntken and Ickes set the tone on both ends of the floor and certainly led the charge for another successful season.
“Those three were a pretty good trio for us this year,” said Pavey. “It made it really hard to defend us because you couldn’t focus on stopping just one player. It seemed like if one player was being targeted, the other two always picked up the slack.”
The Warriors will have big shoes to fill with the graduation of their four senior captains but they will return plenty of talented players next year. In addition to Ickes, Wakefield will bring back multiple contributors from this year’s team including current sophomores Kiera O’Brien and Bella Burns along with freshmen Jayla Conley, Vanessa Tringali and Molly Recene.