by Ken Brown
MARSHFIELD – The Twinfield-Cabot girls’ basketball team opened the season last week with an impressive win over division III Peoples Academy (PA).
Alice McLane and Kendall Fowler led all scorers with 17 points apiece to lead the Lady Trojans to a resounding 56-40 home win over PA last Tuesday.
First year head coach and Twinfield-Cabot alum Jack Whalen was sidelined due to illness, but a familiar face with plenty of basketball experience helped guide the Lady Trojans in their opener in Mark Mooney. Mooney retired from his principal duties at Twinfield this past summer after 12 years and was named Principal of the Year by the Vermont Principals Association in 2016. Whalen considers himself and the program lucky to have lured Mooney out of retirement to assist the team this winter.
“Unfortunately I was unable to be there for our opener due to strep throat, but I was able to watch the game online and the girls did a great job executing all of the preparation they put in leading into the season and played really well. Mark was always there for us when I was a student at Twinfield and when I took the head coach position, he was the first call I made to hopefully lure him out of retirement. He knows these kids, has years of coaching experience at U-32, and we are lucky to have him,” said Whalen.
Jorja Washburn complimented McLane and Fowler with a solid 13-point effort for Twinfield-Cabot and Carley Mancini orchestrated the offense and defense sets from her point guard position. Ava Baisley led the Lady Wolves with 16 points in the loss.
“Alice and Kendall were awesome in our opener, with Alice really setting the tone for our team down low. Those two, along with Jorja are going to be a big source of where our offense comes from this season, but the energy that Carley brings on both ends of the court can’t be measured in the stat sheet. She played all 32 minutes and her ball handling and relentlessness on the defensive end is key for us. It was the first game of the season, and we got a little tired with our help defense down the stretch, but overall, we were solid defensively. Alice uses her size well to collect boards and protect the rim, but PA got a lot of second chance opportunities, and we need to continue to work as a team collectively to secure those rebounds going forward,” said Whalen.
The Lady Trojans will be tested again this week with Division IV power Rivendell Academy (RA) and a rematch on the road against PA. Whalen has scouted both teams and likes the way his squad matches up, but warns that every game is different and is eager to see how his team battles through adversity on the road.
“We feel prepared, ready, and confident this week, but what makes basketball such a great game is the adjustments you have to make as a team from night to night. These girls work hard and we coach them hard during practice, but when the game starts it’s my job to trust them and let them play. We got the first game jitters out and earned an important first win and we’re excited for this week,” said Whalen.
The Lady Trojans hosted RA on Tuesday and will travel to Morrisville on Thursday night for their rematch with PA.
