AMHERST — Anthony Quinones rarely ever sits down during games. The competitive nature that ripples through his veins simply doesn’t allow him to.

Even when his Amherst Regional girls basketball team is facing a 30-point deficit, Quinones is shouting from the sidelines – doing whatever he can to help his players, many of whom never played organized basketball prior to this winter.

Only two girls on the Amherst roster were on the varsity team last season: senior Neena Chinappa and sophomore Keira Cunniffe. Quinones was aware of the rebuilding phase that the Hurricanes were in when he accepted the job this past offseason. He coached the Paulo Freire boys team and led them to the Division 5 Sweet 16 in 2023 before the school shut down, he’s been an assistant at Northampton under Rey Harp and the junior varsity coach at Smith Academy among other coaching stops along the way.

Throughout his time as a basketball coach, Quinones had never experienced the type of losses his current Amherst girls team has seen now eight games into the year. The ‘Canes dropped their season-opener 74-10 to Northampton, and have defeats by scores of 52-5, 60-2, 50-6 and most recently 45-9. They have scored 10 points or less in more than half (5) of their eight contests, and were ranked No. 66 of 68 teams in the initial MIAA Division 2 Power Rankings released early this month.

Sure, Quinones admitted he gets frustrated at times, but so do his players. While taking some lopsided losses to the chin night in and night out isn’t easy, Quinones still walks in with a smile on his face every day.

“I don’t regret a thing,” he said. “I would take this job over and over again. It’s been super tough, sure. It’s been really hard. We have a team that only has two returners. We have a bunch of varsity athletes that have played other sports, but basketball is different. We just don’t have a lot of basketball players. And it’s tough, getting beat by 50, 60 points every game. Girls get frustrated, and as a coach I get frustrated, but I love being here. And they keep showing up every day.”

That’s potentially the most remarkable part of this difficult season. Even when Amherst suffers one of those brutal defeats, players and coaches continue to show up. Quinones comes to practice with new ideas, strategies and practice plans trying to find something to help the ‘Canes out.

His players are all in on his philosophies, and they have nothing but appreciation for him for sticking it out through the bad and the ugly.

“Our coaching staff has been a really big help in keeping our heads up and holding us accountable to how we’re playing,” Cunniffe said. “It’s obviously frustrating for everyone on the team to see us down by 40 points every game, but the coaches keep showing up. And that’s really helpful for us to see, that they are here to support us and they come into practice with new plans every day. It’s a good sign that they care this much.”

Chinappa agreed.

“He took this job knowing that we weren’t going to be the best, and he’s stuck with it,” Chinappa said. “He’s a phenomenal coach and brings a lot to this team. In the past, we haven’t had the best coaches, so I definitely think that he is going to be what this program needs to rebuild it.”

And Cunniffe and Chinappa, the team’s two captains, bring plenty of energy to spread throughout the gym. They are always talking in practice, giving words of encouragement, advice or anything in between. That’s exactly what a team full of inexperienced players needs.

“Our captains have been absolutely amazing,” Quinones said. “Neena, I feel bad for her because she’s been with the program for a long time and she’s a senior. She might not get any wins her senior year. We don’t know. Keira, I wish I had 12 people like her with her attitude. She’s an amazing captain and an amazing leader. They both are, and they’ve done an amazing job keeping the team positive.”

Chinappa was a sophomore when Amherst went 18-6 and made it to the Western Mass. Class A championship game. Those two short years feel like an eternity ago, as the ‘Canes have gone a combined 4-24 since. But Chinappa loves basketball, and she enjoys being around her teammates.

Giving up was certainly never a thought. The only thing left for Chinappa to do in the little time she has left is help get the program headed back in the right direction.

“It is a little hard being a senior,” she said. “I was on teams that made it to the [Western Mass. final], so going from that team that was so great to this year, it makes me want to take initiative and try to get us back to that point. I know I only have this year left, so hopefully we can at least get one or two wins.”

Amherst has to deal with an extremely difficult schedule. The ‘Canes have had to play Northampton (2024 Div. 2 semifinalist), South Hadley twice (2024 Div. 4 finalist), Hoosac Valley twice (Div. 5 state champions), Wahconah twice and Pope Francis – some of the best teams in western Mass.

Amherst is undersized and the Hurricanes lack the depth that those teams possess. Regardless of the effort given, Amherst is just a step behind its opposition.

“We play against some very hard competition, teams that were playing for state championships last year,” Quinones said. “And we’re a small team, we don’t have a lot of size. You look at every other team, they’re huge. For us to compete, we have to be physical. And we’re not a physical team. We’re working on it. We’re working on everything in practice. And I’m going to keep on doing it. Everybody tries, everybody pushes. We’re just not there.”

At this point in the season, with postseason aspirations out of the window for Amherst, Quinones wants to keep laying the foundation of his future. He mentioned the idea of more youth clinics and camps in the summer, but for now, he’s trying to get those coming back next season more comfortable at the varsity level.

He’s seen improvements, despite the scoreboard not reflecting them just yet. The Hurricanes have attempted more shots, handled the ball cleaner and been in the right position defensively. The fundamentals are what’s important right now, and Amherst seems to be learning them as the year progresses.

Wins and losses aren’t fair metrics to use when judging Amherst’s improvement.

“I’m going to keep on doing my job, and that’s pushing them to be the best they can be,” Quinones said. “I do think they’re getting better. You may not see it on the scoreboard, but we’re getting more shots off, our dribbling and passing has been better. I’m proud of them for playing as hard as they do.

“One percent each day,” Quinones added. “We just want to get one percent better every day.”

Amherst (0-8) hosts Taconic on Wednesday night at 7 p.m.