Lynnfield’s Cate MacDonald and Peabody’s Oluchi Okananwa may have grown up in different towns, but they are cut from the same cloth.
They’ve also traveled a similar path, starring for their hometown teams and playing AAU basketball together before transferring to prep school for another challenge. Now, the duo is together again in a new setting — New Hampton School in New Hampton, N.H.
But New Hampton isn’t where this story started. Long before the two met up at prep school, MacDonald and Okananwa played AAU basketball together with Premier Hoops and North Shore Sports Academy.
“We’ve known each other for four or five years now, and we really got to know each other well during our AAU competitions,” said Okananwa. “We’ve stayed in touch the whole time and we’ve always supported each other.”
“We started playing together in sixth grade, and since then we’ve stayed in touch,” said MacDonald. “Even though we live in different towns, we’ve always made efforts to go to each other’s games and support each other whenever we can.”
Okananwa was the first to make the move to New Hampton, transferring after a stellar freshman season with Peabody High in 2018-2019. The Northeastern Conference Player of the Year as a freshman, Okananwa made the jump to prep school and didn’t miss a beat. In her first year at New Hampton, she led the Huskies in points, rebounds and steals.
“It was a totally new experience, and not just with basketball,” Okananwa said of the switch to prep school. “I moved to a new state where I didn’t know anyone and the level of competition there was night and day from playing at Peabody. It really forced me to grow in a lot of ways, and it’s probably the best decision I’ve ever made.”
MacDonald — who starred on the court for two seasons at Lynnfield High — was an Item All-Star as a sophomore with the Pioneers, leading the team with 12 rebounds per game. She initially wasn’t even considering making the move to prep school, but a text from Okananwa over the summer changed all of that.
“She kind of just texted me out of the blue over the summer and said, ‘Do you want to play up here with me,’ and I just sort of laughed it off at first,” said MacDonald. “I really wasn’t considering prep school, but after conversations with my parents we decided it would be a great opportunity.”
“I was thinking about our team (at New Hampton), and I thought that we could really use more bigs,” said Okananwa. “She was the first person I contacted and we were off and running from there.”
Now the two are together up at New Hampton and living as roommates, pushing each other on and off the court.
“It’s been great for the two of them to be there together,” said Cate’s mother Pam MacDonald. “They push each other to get better while they’re at school, and then they get up at 5:45 to practice in the morning before class.”
“It’s been an amazing experience,” said Okananwa. “I remember that it was tough when I first got here and I was on my own, and now we each have someone to keep us motivated every day. We both are equally hungry to get better and we push each other constantly.”
“We’re great roommates. We’re alike in some ways and different in others so it all balances out really well,” said MacDonald. “Sometimes we have to drag each other out of bed in the morning, but that’s what makes us such a great match. We’re always pushing each other to get better.”
That work is now getting kicked into high gear, as MacDonald and Okananwa continue to prepare for the basketball season at New Hampton while back at home on break.
With the first game set for Jan. 29 against Brewster Academy, the girls have already started ramping up their workload on the court via workouts with their AAU team Lady Rivals Elite and individual skill work.
And since each girl re-classed upon their arrival at New Hampton, the two are now both sophomores and will graduate together in 2023.
“After all this work together and all this time living together, why shouldn’t we graduate together, too?” said Okananwa.
“This was such a strange year with COVID and everything, so I think getting an extra year at the high school level will be great for both of us,” said MacDonald. “Hopefully, it’ll make things a little less stressful for us when it comes to recruiting and things like that as well.”