If the old adage “defense wins championships” rings true, the Atlantic Collegiate girls basketball team might be in for a special postseason run.

The Armada (16-2, 9-0 region) has made quick work of most of its opponents this season, showing one of the best year-over-year improvements of anyone across the area. Last year, ACA was 11-13 and finished fourth in its region. 

Things have been drastically different this season.

“Right now, when we lock in, we can play some really good defense. We can press, we can run zone, we can run man… That’s going to be our trademark,” said head coach Bill Zatulskis.

“They’re distributing the ball offensively. It’s been total unselfish play. They’re helping each other on defense. They’re really getting aggressive with boxing out and rebounding. And that’s the thing — if we do those things, we’re a tough team to beat.”

That defensive focus has, indeed, been the team’s trademark over the course of the year. 

Through 18 games, ACA is allowing just 36 points per game against, outscoring opponents by an average of about 20 points per game. They’re currently riding an 11-game winning streak, perfect so far in Region VII-2A. 

Zatulskis says his group’s defensive emphasis has led to a mindset that doesn’t always have a place in the high school game: unselfish play and a desire to win games a less “flashy” way — anchored by old-school, physical basketball.

“They understand what they can create offensively from their defense, and that really spurs them on,” Zatulskis said. “They know that if they can score points by playing really good defense, they buy into that.”

Leading the Armada’s unselfish charge, Zatulskis says, is ACA’s two veteran leaders: junior Zaniya Blackmon and senior Micah Davis. 

Both have led the team with wise-beyond-their-years mindsets, something the ACA coaching staff has, at times, been in awe of.

“We had a game the other night against Mullins, and I took [Zaniya] out just to rest her. I turned to her and I said, ‘Z, you ready to go back in?,'” Zatulskis described.