by Ken Brown
STOWE – The Hazen Union girls basketball team played dominant basketball over the holiday break and ripped off their sixth straight win of the season last week at Stowe to improve to 6-1 on the season.
Caitlyn Davison continued to power the Lady Cat offense with a team-high 19 points in a convincing 70-40 road win over Stowe last Friday. Craftsbury Academy’s Ella Gillespie had her second straight strong performance with 14 points, Alexis Christensen added 10, and Haley Michaud and freshman Julia des Groseilliers combined for 17 more in the win. Parker Reeves was the offense for the Lady Raiders, pouring in 33 points in the loss as they fell to 0-5.
“We are showing more continuity on offense, but our help defense definitely fell off in this one, and that is something we will continue to work on,” said head coach Randy Lumsden. “Ella and Alexis have added some really good balance to our scoring the last few games and Julia is starting to get more comfortable with the speed of the varsity game, contributing in scoring and on the boards. Getting more familiar with each other the last couple of weeks has led to better continuity with our offense and we are starting to deliver our passes better in the crucial situations,” added Lumsden.
Over the holiday break, Hazen discarded Vergennes at home 50-32 behind 17 points and 15 rebounds from Davison. Christensen added 13 in the win as Vergennes fell to 5-4 on the season. Davison followed that up with a triple-double (16 points, 16 boards, 12 steals) in a 66-25 road win over BFA-Fairfax on December 27. Tessa Luther also scored a season-high 16 points, Gillespie added 10 points and six boards, and Christensen added 10 steals in the win. Davison, a 2022 Vermont Dream Dozen selection, is enjoying a stellar junior campaign, averaging just over 20 points per game on the season. Coach Lumsden has the Lady Cats on a six-game winning streak since dropping their season opener and is feeling more comfortable with his team in his first year on the sidelines.
“I’m a pretty intense person, but I think I’m starting to feel a little more relaxed during games and the girls and I are starting to understand each other a little better as the season progresses. We are trying to get better every single game and the girls are doing a good job putting in the work with our scouting reports. Our practices have to be wars and we need to continue to practice like we play to reach our potential as a team. We feel like we can play with anybody, but we need to stay humble and not get too confident, and keep preparing for the next game in front of us,” said Lumsden.
Hazen Union traveled to Milton on Tuesday and will host BFA-Fairfax on Friday, before a makeup game with Winooski at the “Cat Den” on Saturday afternoon.
