The Hardwick Mustangs girls’ AAU basketball team includes, back (from left) Coach Davison, Coach Rivard, Mya Lumsden, Autumn Dailey, Julia des Groseilliers, Kelsie Rivard, HC Rivard, Ava Baisley; front, Baylie Christensen, Isabelle Gouin, Taylor Thompson, Ari Nichols and Ella Renaud.
RUTLAND – The Hardwick Mustangs girls’ AAU basketball team claimed their second runner-up finish in consecutive weeks over the weekend at the Spartans Green Mountain Gauntlet Tournament.
With a team primarily made up of freshmen, sophomores, and one junior, the Lady ‘Stangs went four-for-one over the weekend to earn second-place honors in the tournament’s oldest age group. Head coach Sue Rivard was on the bench as an assistant for the Lady Cats Division III championship run this past winter that ended a 33-year title drought. Much of her AAU roster was on that Hazen Union championship team.
Freshman Lady Cat phenom Kelsie Rivard returned to action for the Lady ‘Stangs this past weekend after splitting time with the New England Crusaders out of Nashua, N.H. The reigning Mountain League Rookie of the Year is currently traveling with the Crusaders in a four-part Nike EYBL series that will wrap up in Chicago in July.
“Every game this past weekend was a battle and the girls displayed a lot of grit and heart. I’m so impressed with the amount of time and effort this group put in this AAU season, always coming to practice early to take some extra shots and pushing each other hard. For such a young team, the level of commitment is off the charts and that tone was set by Hazen head coach Randy Lumsden the past two years,” said Rivard.
Coach Rivard has had the tools of an all-star coaching staff at her disposal this spring in Hazen greats Caitlyn Davison and Tyler Rivard. Both brought basketball championships back to Hardwick during their storied high school careers and finished with nearly 2,400 career points combined. Rivard also pulled down over 1,000 career rebounds, the first player in program history to accomplish both feats.
“This group was also blessed to have Tyler and Caitlyn working with them the past two months. Ty and Cait approached this like everything they do, with 100% commitment and passion. This group is going to do great things!” said Rivard.
Rivard’s young squad finished the spring with a tournament championship and a pair of runner-up finishes and will take a short break before starting back up to play in a summer league under coach Lumsden in a few weeks.
CCSU Softball to Wrap up Regular Season
MARSHFIELD – The Twinfield-Cabot-Danville (CCSU) softball team’s game against Winooski-Burlington was canceled last week and they will now wrap up their regular season with a pair of games this week.
The 3-7 Lady Trojans will host Craftsbury Academy on Thursday on Senior Night and travel to Richford on Saturday in a final tune up for the upcoming playoffs. The Mountain League matchup with the Lady Chargers will more than likely determine which team earns a home playoff game next week.
