MONTPELIER – After a pair of lopsided victories over Montpelier and Lake Region, the Hazen Union girls basketball team battled to fend off fellow Division III power Oxbow on the road to run their record to 16-2 on the season.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Newly minted 1,000-point scorer Kelsie Rivard poured in 22 points to lead the Lady Cats to a 65-17 home win over Montpelier last Monday. Julia des Groseilliers controlled the paint with 17 strong points and fellow senior Isabelle Gouin added seven. Freshman Marina Smith (three points) buried a three late in the win. The Lady Cats started the game with a 20-0 run and pushed the lead to 32-7 at the break. Montpelier fell to 1-14 on the year.
Rivard pumped in 19 more points on Wednesday, and fellow junior Mya Lumsden buried a trio of threes on her way to a 19-point night as Hazen bludgeoned Lake Region at the Cat Den 72-23. Gouin got to the rim often for Hazen, finishing with a season-high 15 and senior Ari Nichols (three points) connected from long range late. Mya Patenaude paced Lake Region with eight points, who fell to 9-8 on the year.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Lumsden continued to have the hot hand on Friday night, burying three more triples on her way to a team-high 18 points as the Lady Cats fended off Oxbow on the road 57-42. Coming off a 20-win season and the top seed in the division last March, the Lady Olympians limited Rivard to 11 points with relentless double teams. Autumn Dailey and des Groseilliers answered with nine points apiece and Taylor Thompson (6) was relentless on both ends of the court for Hazen. The Lady Cats took a commanding 42-30 lead into the final period before Oxbow made it a two-possession game late as the visitors struggled from the free throw line (10-21). Abby Longto led Oxbow with 19 points and Braylee Phelps added 12 as they fell to 13-5 and were swept in the season series with the Lady Cats.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
“It’s been pretty impressive this year watching this team grow and learning to trust each other. Kelsie has been and is going to be the focus of a lot of defensive plans, but that trust in each other has forced teams to pick their poison when they face us. We have plenty of players on this team now that have put in the work and are capable of going for 20 on any given night,” said head coach Randy Lumsden.
Hazen remains at the top of the current Division III standings, followed by defending champion Windsor (12-5), Bellows Falls (13-4) and Oxbow. The Lady Cats celebrate Senior Night on Friday as they welcome Montpelier to town before wrapping up the season at home against Harwood Saturday afternoon. All home games can be live streamed on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
