HUDSON – In bestselling self-help book “Atomic Habits,” author James Clear writes that “if you can get one percent better each day for one year, you’ll end up thirty-seven times better by the time you’re done.”
Head Coach Marty Murphy – and the entire Hudson girls basketball team – believe in this sentiment.
Although the Hawks lost, 54-41, to the title-contender Tyngsborough Tigers – who entered action with an impressive 6-1 record – Murphy and the team focused on improvement, not just the box score.
“[I saw] a lot of fight and a lot of effort,” said Murphy. “We’re young – I thought we played pretty well. [Tyngsborough] is a really good team with two really special players. For us, it’s a progression. We’re building towards getting better every time we play, and I feel like we did that today. We’re better than we were the last time we played. We’re trending in the right direction, I’d say.”
The Hawks weren’t intimidated by the Tigers, and hung tight throughout the game. Though Hudson trailed 19-10 after the first period of action, the Hawks kept hustling, eventually pulling within two points of the Tigers midway through the third quarter. Hudson’s Maddie Haher led the team with 20 points; Sam Collette added another 9 points.
“They’re two very special offensive players,” Murphy said of Haher and Collette, “and we expect them to carry a lot of the weight of the team. They both did a nice job tonight, so going down the stretch, I hope they improve more and more. That’s our motto: one percent better every day.”
However, momentum swung the Tigers’ way in subsequent action, and Tyngsborough’s Carly DiMento (20 points) and Gianna Donato (14 points) helped the team pull away.
“It’s just the fact that, at some point as a team, the kids realize that we just can’t be where we are today. We have to be better – we lost [today]. We can go in and improve; it’s an easier, more attainable goal than saying ‘Let’s get 50 percent better.’ That’s unrealistic. If we get one percent better, and we’re moving on through the season, we’ll be fine,” Murphy said.
