HARDWICK – The Hazen Union girls basketball team discarded Lyndon Institute (LI) to run their win streak to twelve games last week before getting clipped by Division II power Lamoille on the road for just their second loss of the season.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Kelsie Rivard led the way with 14 points as the Lady Cats took care of business at home last Wednesday with a 54-26 win over LI. Isabelle Gouin powered the backcourt with 12 points and Mya Lumsden drained a pair of field goals from long range to finish with eight. Taylor Thompson and Autumn Dailey chipped in with six points apiece and Ari Nichols (three points) connected on a corner three in the win. Gabriella Marshia led the Lady Vikes with 15 and Julia Allen added six in the loss as they fell to 2-13.
Rivard continued to have the hot hand on Friday night with a game-high 24 points, but it wasn’t enough as Lamoille ran their record to 16-0 with a 55-50 win at home. Alana Crittenden led the Lady Lancers with 15 points and Ava Baisley added 14 to help the home team erase a 28-24 deficit at the half, cutting it to one with eight minutes to play. Rivard drained a pair of threes on the night and Lumsden (11 points) also connected from long range, but Lamoille cashed in on 10 of 12 free throw attempts to keep the lead for good down the stretch. Cassi Boissoneault chipped in with 12 points for Lamoille as they held on to their top spot in the division ahead of two-time defending champion Fair Haven (14-1). The Lady Slaters have ended Lamoille’s playoff runs each of the last three seasons. Lamoille starts five guards (four seniors and one junior) and applies full court pressure with a positionless style of basketball similar to the Lady Cats. Head coach Randy Lumsden is taking positives from his team’s only two losses of the season (CVU and Lamoille) coming on the road and out of the division.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
“We one hundred percent battled with both of those teams and the result could have gone either way. Friday’s game at Lamoille was back and forth, they just happened to go on the last run. We definitely need to tighten up the screws on the defensive end however. We were back in the gym Sunday working on defensive rotations. Playing teams of this caliber will make us better as a team come tournament time,” said Lumsden.
The Lady Cats were back on the road Monday for a Capital League matchup against Montpelier. They are scheduled to host Lake Region on Wednesday night before wrapping up a busy week with a trip to Oxbow on Friday. All home games can be streamed live on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
