SOUTH HADLEY — Scouting the South Hadley girls basketball team must be a headache.

And judging by the Tigers’ 19-game win streak, those scouts haven’t exactly been successful.

Senior guard and captain Drew Alley may be the leading scorer, but a crop of six juniors follows right behind. Throw in a couple of sophomores and a group of freshmen that have earned valuable minutes right away, and opposing teams can never seem to figure out just who to focus on.

In South Hadley’s MIAA Division 4 semifinal victory over Tyngsborough on Tuesday, two Tyngsborough players scored all but four of its points. South Hadley had seven scorers between three and 11 points and won the game, 53-43.

“We knew going into that game and a lot of other games that if they have one good girl, we’re going to face-guard them and we know to focus on them and help,” junior forward Ava Asselin said after practice on Thursday. “But the other teams don’t know who to help on. It could be Drew, it could be CC (Gurek), it could be me, it could be literally anyone on the team that’s going to have a good game.”

The No. 3 Tigers enter the Division 4 state championship game on Sunday at noon against top-seeded and defending champion Cathedral of Boston with seven players over 140 points on the year. If the opposing team tries taking away one option, the Tigers move to the next.

“When we played Cohasset (in the Elite 8) they tried to deny Drew the ball and so we gave it to CC.,” head coach Paul Dubuc said. “If Drew came out and they tried to do it to CC, we let Caitlin (Dean) handle the ball. Cara (Dean) can run the point, too.”

Alley, the team’s lone senior, is surrounded by a group of four juniors in the Tigers’ starting five – Gurek, Asselin, Caitlin Dean and Maddie Soderbaum. While Gurek and Alley usually share ball-handling responsibilities, Dean and Soderbaum often draw the toughest defensive assignments. Dean provides steady scoring and Soderbaum is a threat to hit from beyond the arc. Asselin grabs rebounds inside and led the Tigers with 11 points in Tuesday’s semifinal win.

Off the bench, Taylor Bullough, Cara Dean and Kate Phillips – all freshmen – have played in every game this year. On Tuesday, Dean hit a pair of crucial triples in the Tigers’ game-defining third quarter run, while Phillips won several battles for boards and layups inside. On top of all of that, a contingent of current eighth graders figures to fight for varsity minutes next season.

The younger players have brought a “levity” to practices and games, according to assistant coach Jess Nelson.

“A lot of it has been because the younger kids just brought this new life to it,” Nelson said. “They’re so goofy. If you watch Cara during a practice, she’s never not smiling. Sometimes you’re like ‘what’s going on, why are you smiling?’”

And over its five-week postseason run, South Hadley has brought up a few eighth graders who have come to practice regularly despite knowing they won’t feature in the games. They’ll be well set up when they reach high school next year.

“I wish we had that advantage when we were in eighth grade,” Asselin said. “They’re out here every day, already getting to know our plays. They won’t really be freshmen anymore (next year) because they already know what’s going on.”

It’s been a culmination of years of playing together. Many of the players have been teammates since early elementary school, where they played CYO basketball at St. Patrick’s and were coached by Dubuc.

“All four of us — me, Caitlin, Maddie and CC — all have been playing on the same team since,” Asselin said, then stopped to think, “like our entire lives.”

Even when their St. Pat’s days were over, they often gathered together to play outside of school. Gurek said their games during the pandemic — when they had to be outside — have “really” helped them in the long run.

The juniors have one more season to go, but they know the program is in good hands.

“We know when we leave,” Asselin said, “we don’t have to worry.”