HARDWICK – The Hazen Union girls basketball team thumped Winooski and Danville last week for their 27th consecutive victory, breaking a nearly 50-year school record held by all-time great head coach Jan Howard and generational talent Penny Libercent.

photo by Amy Renaud
Super sophomore Kelsie Rivard drained a career-high six threes on her way to a 29-point night, leading Hazen to a dominant 64-33 home win over Winooski last Tuesday. The reigning Mountain League Rookie-of-the-Year is heating up midway through the season, combining for nearly 60 points in the Lady Cats last two wins. Mya Lumsden and Taylor Thompson added eight points apiece in the win as Hazen blazed to a 44-11 lead at the break and never looked back. Peoples Academy transfer Ari Nichols added a pair of field goals from long distance for Hazen, who connected on 11 three-pointers for the game. Ashlyn Parris led the Lady Spartans with 12 points, including four threes and teammate Taraji Bradley chipped in with 10. Winooski fell to 3-5 on the season.
“We have been shooting the ball much better as a team as of late. Kelsie is really starting to expand her game, shooting over fifty percent from three the last four games. Our offense has gotten much better over that same stretch,” said head coach Randy Lumsden.
Rivard added 16 more points in limited action on Thursday night, leading Hazen to a 63-28 road win over Danville for a school-record 27th straight win. Fellow sophomore Autumn Dailey was strong in the paint with nine points, Isabelle Gouin and Mya Lumsden added eight apiece, and Ella Renaud chipped in with seven. Senior Baylie Christensen also drained a pair of three-pointers for the Lady Cats in the win.
Lynsey Lavely paced Danville with 10 in the loss as they fell to 3-7.
The 1974-75 Lady Cats captured Hazen’s first ever Class I State Championship in basketball under Howard and invaluable assistant coach Jean Hackett, ending the season with a perfect 19-0 record. Libercent led Hazen to a successful state title defense the following year, becoming the school’s first ever 1,000-point scorer. Libercent graduated from Hazen as one of Vermont’s all-time female high school athletes, adding consecutive state titles in softball for Hazen.
“Breaking the school record with 27 straight wins is nice in the fact that it spans over two seasons, so it’s something that two different teams can be proud to have been a part of! Ultimately, it’s just a milestone on our path hopefully back to Barre. These girls have put in so much time and energy into their success on the court and I know it’s going to translate into their success further in life. With recent cancellations, our schedule has gotten really tight as we try to make up those games. We are going to have to mentally prepare for the grind of four game weeks coming down the stretch,” said Lumsden.
Lumsden is now an eye-popping 48-3 in his two-plus seasons as Lady Cat head coach.
Hazen looked to keep the streak going on Tuesday as they welcomed Williamstown to the Cat Den before making the short trip to Twinfield-Cabot on Thursday. They return home for a pair of match-ups against Enosburg and Stowe next Monday and Tuesday. All home games can be streamed on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).