NORTHFIELD – The biggest problem head coach Randy Lumsden will have heading into the postseason with his top seeded Hazen Union girls’ basketball team will be keeping them competitively sharp as they closed out the regular season last week with lopsided wins over Northfield and BFA-Fairfax.
Freshman Kelsie Rivard poured in 21 points and pulled down 13 rebounds to power Hazen to a 69-9 bludgeoning of the Lady Marauders on the road last Tuesday.
Caitlyn Davison knocked down a trio of threes and recorded seven steals to go along with a 15-point night.
Julia des Groseilliers added 10 points down low and freshman Taylor Thompson connected twice from long range to score eight in the win.
Rivard was far from done, recording the first triple double of her young career with 14 points, 12 rebounds, and 12 steals on Thursday night to help the Lady Cats close out the regular season with a 60-18 road win over BFA-Fairfax.
Fellow freshman Autumn Dailey had a strong night with 10 points, Isabelle Gouin scored 10 of her own, and des Groseilliers added seven.
Senior Sarah Collier chipped in with four points and fellow senior Tessa Luther knocked down a three in the win.
The loss dropped the Lady Bullets to 3-16 on the season.
Lumsden has now finished his first two regular seasons as the Lady Cat coach with 18 and 16 game winning streaks. Hazen has caught defending Division III champion, Windsor, for the top spot in the divisional standings, but Lumsden’s squad will be in the unfamiliar spot of being idle a week before the postseason with the cancellation of their match-up with Winooski that was scheduled this week. He’ll use this week to keep his team sharp with hard competitive practices, as well as heal up any nicks and dings brought on by a long regular season.
“We’ve tried to schedule something for this week with teams from other divisions, but everyone is either full or wanted to use the week to rest and heal up. Going into the playoffs we’ve definitely grown as a team from the beginning of the season. The girls have worked extremely hard to get themselves ready for this moment. I feel like the girls have settled into their roles and understand what is expected from them as playoff basketball is about to start,” said Lumsden.
Windsor has two more games remaining in the regular season and could retake the top spot with wins over Hartford and West Rutland this week. The Lady Cats entered the tournament as the second seed last winter, making it to the Division III Final Four at the Barre Auditorium for the first time since 2017. They’ll be led once again by their 1,000-point leading scorer Caitlyn Davison, but she’ll have some help inside during this playoff run with Rivard, who has returned from a foot injury to play some of her best basketball of the season this past week.
Playoff seedings will be announced Sunday evening.
