MARSHFIELD – Despite sandwiching a win against Blue Mountain around a pair of losses to Williamstown and Winooski last week, the Twinfield-Cabot girls basketball team held on to the final home playoff seed for the upcoming Division IV state tournament.
Jorja Washburn balled out on Senior Night last Wednesday, pouring in 21 points to lead the Lady Trojans to a 52-36 home win over Blue Mountain. Fellow senior captains Carley Mancini and Kendall Fowler, as well as Sophia Mancini and Haylee North were honored before the game for their outstanding high school careers on the hardwood. Blue Mountain wraps up the regular season at 3-17 and will travel to fourth ranked Mount St. Joseph’s Academy in the first round of the tournament.
Julia French and Natalie Beliveau scored 11 points apiece to help Williamstown fend off Twinfield-Cabot 36-30 at home Friday night. Washburn powered the Lady Trojan offense once again, leading them to an 11-6 advantage after the first quarter and an 18-14 edge heading into the break. Hannah Spencer chipped in with seven for the Lady Blue Devils as they reeled in their crosstown rivals to take a 27-26 lead with eight minutes to play. Sophomore Chloe North added 6 points for Twinfield-Cabot, but the offense sputtered coming out of the locker room at halftime, managing just 12 points the rest of the way. Williamstown exacted some revenge from a 57-39 loss to the Lady Trojans at the Winter Solstice in Barre back in January. Williamstown improved to 15-5 and will host Northfield as the #3 seed in the opening round of the Division IV tournament.
Joyce Mampaya led a balanced Winooski scoring attack with 11 points as the Lady Spartans swept the season series with Twinfield-Cabot on Saturday, adding a 57-25 win at home. Ashlyn Parris and Alice Buhendwa complemented with 10 points apiece for Winooski as they improved to 11-8, completing an impressive turnaround of their girls varsity basketball program. The Lady Spartans won just 9 games combined the last two seasons. Winooski earned the No. 8 seed in the Division III tournament and will host Vergennes on Wednesday night.
The loss dropped Twinfield-Cabot down to the eight seed, but second-year head coach Jack Whalen and his program will host a playoff game for the second straight season. Whalen’s veteran squad has competed well against some of the top seeds within the division throughout the season and will have to lean heavily on his senior leadership if the Lady Trojans want to make a deep run in the tournament. Waiting for them in the second round is three-time defending champion West Rutland with Vermont’s newly crowned all-time leading scorer Peyton Guay.
The Lady Trojans hosted ninth-seeded Twin Valley in the first round Tuesday. If they advance, they will travel to West Rutland Friday night for a 7 p.m. quarter final match-up.
