Walters embracing new role for Haddonfield girls basketball

Posted by Admin January 17, 2025 Basketball

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Acadia Walters is making a name for herself — over and above the one she already has.

The Haddonfield sophomore isn’t going to find a novelty keychain or license plate alongside all the Sallys, Marys or Kates in a store display. Walter’s name is special order.

“My parents say it’s not from the park, but they just liked the name,” Walters said. “They wanted something different.”

Acadia National Park, on the Atlantic Coast of Maine, is named for the area that includes the formerly French areas of the Canadian Maritime Provinces. That’s not important right now.

For our purposes, Acadia is a memorable and singular name for the Haddons’ new point guard.

“My brother is named Logan,” Walters said. “My parents were going to name him something unique. With me, they just stuck with it.”

Walters averaged 11.3 points per game as a precocious freshman, playing alongside a very senior, very experienced team. This winter, with her former teammates graduated, she has taken on the point guard role, while increasing her scoring load to 19.2 points per game.

Last year was a whirlwind.

“I felt like I had so many role models around me,” Walters said. “It was like, just seniors everywhere. They were all ready to help, step up and show me what to do. From that environment, in that culture, like I just wanted to come in and make a difference. I wanted to come in and play as hard as I could.”

Coach Jackie Mulligan had a different role in mind for this season.

“Last year, we got her up the court quickly and were able to get it up to her,” Mulligan said. “This year, we need her to play the role of point guard. She’s able to come back and get the ball up the court. With a young team other than her around her, we need that. We graduated everybody, so they are still trying to find their spots in their groove.”

With an 8-4 record through the first dozen games, the Haddons are making good time in their transition. Walters deserves a share of that credit.

Walters had plenty of faces to look to when she was a freshman. Now the team’s faces look to hers.

“It felt like a lot of pressure at first, but there are still a lot of upperclassmen,” Walters said. “We have Mar (Kadar) and Molly (Mulligan) and Gigi DelDuca). They’re all ready to help and be leaders. We do have a lot of leadership this year, but it was definitely something to get used to. I want people to look to me. I want to make the team better. I want to help everyone else out.”

Walters began to assert herself offensively in the late stages of last season. She closed out the year with five straight double-digit scoring efforts. That streak has run up to 17, including all 12 games this winter. She’s managed to increase her scoring average by eight points per game, while seeing her playmaking responsibilities increase.

The transition has been seamless.

“I am good with both positions,” Walters said. “When I play AAU, there are time I’ll go between being a point guard or being on the wing or being a guard. I’m ready and, I’m willing to play wherever. If you want to put me in the post, I might be small, but I’ll still go down and play as hard as I can.”

It’s that attitude that has made Walters an easy option to choose for coach Mulligan. But it’s more than just attitude.

“I’m very pleased,” Mulligan said. “You know, she plays hard. She’s worked really hard. It’s not like she just made this jump. She put in the time. She’s been in the gym. She wants to get better. She wants to be coached. I’m really happy for her, because all her hard work is paying off.”

Hard work seems to be contagious — and permanent.

“I’m really excited,” Walters said. “We had some tough games in the beginning of the season. It is putting a fire in us. We want to win. We want to play with these teams and be able to compete.

“Coming into the second round of conference play, we know what we have to do. We’re ready to win because there are games that we lost that we really want to get back.”

Tom Rimback grew up reading the Burlington County Times and Courier Post sports sections and began writing for the BCT in 1996. He has covered everything from Super Bowls and Final Fours to Tri-County Swimming but he’s happiest on a sideline interviewing South Jersey scholastic athletes. Follow him on twitter @Rimbacksports. Email him with story ideas at tomrimback@gmail.com and, most importantly, support local journalism with a subscription to the Courier-Post.