As the fall sports season wraps up with the football team’s win over Nantucket, it’s time to look ahead to winter sports. Tryouts begin next week. Until then, we will look into the minds of coaches and players to see how they think things will shape up, at least in the early part of the season. And there are plenty of thoughts to go around with swimming, hockey and basketball coming up.

The swim team will be coming off its most successful season yet in the program’s short history and will compete with some of the top teams in the state this year. “It’s going to be a challenge, but it’s going to be fun, I can’t wait for the season to start,” said senior Galya Walt. “We have a tight-knit group of kids coming back for us and both the men’s and women’s teams should do just fine this year.”

Galya is coming into her senior year with a reputation as one of the best female racers in the region. “I think the teams will be tough, but there is a lot of competition ahead so you never you never know, but I definitely have faith,” she said. “We have less people swimming this year but our team is filled with talent and experience, we should be able to win a decent amount of dual meets and hope to improve our record from last year.”

The girls’ ice hockey team will try to bounce back from an early exit from last year’s playoffs as the team brings back a core group that only lost one starter from last year. “We are going to have a really good team, I know the girls will skate hard for me and the coaching staff, I really don’t have anything to worry about,” said head coach John Fiorito. “Our seniors know how to lead, which is the first thing you want in your older players. We may not have the team put together yet but you kind of already know who is going to contribute.”

As for the boys’ ice hockey team, they also are looking to bounce back from an early exit in the second round of the playoffs last year. “We lost a lot of guys last year to graduation and a ton of talent, but that’s not to say the guys coming back this year won’t provide more than enough talent to go around,” said captain Austin Morley.

“I think that we are going to be a good team, but it’s all just speculative, you have no idea until we step off that ice on the last day of tryouts what the team we will look like or how much anyone has improved,” said assistant captain Andrew Wiley. “I just can’t wait to get out there.”

The girls’ basketball team will try to improve on their record from last year as they lost in the first round of the playoffs. “I don’t think we had the camaraderie you would like to see in a team like that,” said sophomore Erin Hill. “I hope we can do better this year but it’s too early to tell.”

“I just think that we can go so much farther than we did last year, the team hopefully will be a lot more close, you just have to think positively,” said senior Mariah Duarte, who hopes to rejoin the team this year after leaving last year for personal reasons. “We just need to put our differences aside and come together, and knowing the girls that are trying out, I can tell you we can do that.”

The boys’ basketball team has enjoyed a run of streaking success over the past five years, including top seedings in the playoffs and a trip to the TD Garden in 2013. But last year the team fell short on its goals as they were bounced out of the playoffs in the south semifinals by eventual state champions Cardinal Spellman. “We are going to bounce back stronger than ever,” predicted team captain Tim Roberts. “This team is an experienced one, most of us have been playing together since the fifth grade, and there are some talented underclassmen as well that could have some valuable contributions.”

The team brings back 10 of its original 15 players from last year, meaning there is plenty of experience to go around. “I just can’t wait for tryouts and I am sure neither can anyone else, I kind of compare it to Christmas morning, it’s that exciting,” said Tim.

Next week look for a full winter sports preview including rosters, captains and opening nights and schedules. This season is going to be a doozy.