by Ken Brown
LYNDONVILLE – It took a buzzer beater in overtime to hand head coach Randy Lumsden and his Hazen Union girls’ basketball team their first regular season loss in 20 games, as the Lady Cats fell to Lyndon Institute (LI) on the road.
Brooke’lyn Robinson did it all for the Lady Vikings on Tuesday night, capping off a 28-point night with a game winning three to down Hazen 53-50 in overtime. Robinson was held without a field goal in the first half by a tenacious Lady Cat defense, but found her stroke in the second half, burying four three-pointers, including the step back game-winner.
“Our defense did a great job on Robinson in the first half, but we got ourselves into foul trouble and had to guard her a little differently the rest of the way. Give them credit, they’re a good team, with good size, and she’s a good player,” said Lumsden.
Robinson coldly sank a pair of free throws at the end of regulation to send the game into overtime. The senior guard finished a perfect 10-10 from the charity stripe.
Freshman Taylor Thompson nearly won it for Hazen at the end of regulation, but her desperation three went halfway down before rimming out.
Fellow freshman Kelsie Rivard led the Lady Cats with a career-high 25 points, carrying the visitors in the third quarter with 15 of the team’s 17.
Senior Caitlyn Davison fought through double teams all night to finish with 16 in the loss.
The Lady Vikings held a one-point advantage heading into the break and the two teams were knotted at 38 apiece after three quarters. The difference in the game showed up at the free throw line, with LI converting on 14 of 18 attempts, while Hazen went seven for 18. Ary Parker chipped in with 11 points for the Lady Vikings, who improved to 1-1 on the season.
“Lyndon did a good job of changing up their defense throughout the game and this early in the season, it’s difficult for a young team to adjust to that. I told the girls in the locker room that this is only truly a loss if we don’t learn from it and find a way to get better from it. We’re doing some good things, but we need to continue to put in the work to improve to win close games like this,” said Lumsden.
Hazen Union matched up against Peoples Academy over the weekend in the inaugural Winter Solstice Tournament at the Barre Auditorium and will welcome defending Division IV champion West Rutland to town on Thursday.
