MARSHFIELD – After a home playoff win in the first round against Twin Valley, the Twinfield-Cabot girls basketball team met the fate of countless other teams, falling to top rated West Rutland to end their season at 9-12.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Senior Kendall Fowler poured in a game-high 20 points to power the Lady Trojans to a 54-23 home win over Twin Valley last Tuesday in the opening round of the Division IV playoffs. Fellow senior Jorja Washburn complemented with 10 points as Twinfield-Cabot earned a home playoff victory for the second consecutive year under head coach Jack Whalen. Twin Valley ended their season at 7-14.
Fowler led the offense once again on Friday night with 13 points, but it wasn’t nearly enough as top-ranked West Rutland cruised into the Final Four with a 66-24 victory at home. Vermont’s all-time leading scorer Peyton Guay added to her record-breaking total with a game-high 16 points. Bella Coombs (14 points), Hayley Raiche (11), and a combined 14 more from Emma Haley and Kennah Wright-Chapman rounded out a balanced Golden Horde scoring attack. Chloe North added five points for the Lady Trojans and Washburn chipped in with four in the loss.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Whalen led the Lady Trojan program to their first winning season in over a decade last winter in his first year on the sidelines. He gives a lion’s share of the credit to the seniors (Fowler, Washburn, Carley Mancini, Haylee North and Sophia Mancini) who nearly made a Final Four a season ago and were the driving force behind turning the program’s fortunes around so quickly. Whalen knows he’ll have to continue to bring his high energy and positivity to his next group of leaders to keep the arrow pointing up on his program.
“I was very fortunate to start my coaching career here at Twinfield-Cabot with this group of girls. I grew a lot as a coach, and I think they helped my development as much as I helped theirs. I will miss all of them so much! Without these seniors, our season will look very different next year, however I have a great group coming back who loves to work hard. I want to keep working with the youth programs to continue to strengthen our program! I love coaching and love basketball! As long as I can share that love for the game, we will continue to have successful seasons,” said Whalen.
It is all chalk in the Division IV Final Four as West Rutland squared off with fourth-seeded Arlington and second-seeded Long Trail battled No. 3 Williamstown at the Barre Auditorium on Monday night. West Rutland is seeking their fourth consecutive state title.
