HARDWICK – The Hazen Union girls basketball team put an emphatic punctuation on the regular season last week with a lopsided home win over Harwood on Senior Night.
Senior Isabelle Gouin torched Harwood with a season-high 20 points to power the Lady Cats to a 60-30 home win on Saturday afternoon. Fellow seniors Ella Renaud, Sadie Gann and Ari Nichols joined Gouin and Julia des Groseilliers in the starting lineup to give Hazen a 14-9 edge after one period. Newly minted 1,000-point scorer Kelsie Rivard poured in 13 points in limited action as the Lady Cats extended their lead to 30-16 at the break. Freshman Eloise Foster added seven points, while Renaud (four points), Nichols (four) and des Groseilliers (three) rounded out a balanced scoring attack for Hazen. Liv Kielich led Harwood with 11 points and Adelaide Chalmers added nine in the loss as they wrapped up the regular season at 6-13.
Hazen’s five seniors were honored before the game for their outstanding high school careers. Long-time Hardwick Community Television contributor, Hazen Union alum and de facto voice of Hazen Union athletics Lance Hall was also honored before the game.
Gouin also drained a three on her big night and put a bow on a stellar athletic career at Hazen in front of a packed house at the Cat Den. Gouin has been a varsity player for the Lady Cats in both basketball and soccer since eighth grade. This past fall, Gouin broke the all-time scoring record for the Hazen girls soccer team with 56 career goals. She earned Mountain League Player of the Year honors and was named to her second consecutive Vermont All-State team. des Groseilliers has also been a key contributor to the rise of the Lady Cat basketball program since she was a freshman. Her inside presence as a sophomore helped Hazen win the Division III state championship in 2022. Over three decades earlier, her Aunt Jennifer des Groseilliers also cut down the nets for Hazen at the Barre Auditorium, setting the all-time school scoring record with over 1,900 career points.
The Lady Cats (17-2) locked up the No. 1 seed for the upcoming state tournament for the second time in three years. Their only losses of the season came to Division I powerhouse CVU and a Lamoille team that will enter the Division II tournament a perfect 19-0. Head coach Randy Lumsden and his talented club earned the only bye in the upcoming Division III bracket and will host a quarterfinal game this weekend for a chance to make it to the Final Four at the Barre Auditorium for the fourth consecutive season.
Hazen will host the winner of No. 8 Whiter River Valley vs. #9 Green Mountain on Saturday at 2 p.m. All home games can be live streamed on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
