HOLDEN – A pair of back to-back home-court victories early this month helped the Wachusett Regional High girls’ varsity basketball team continue its highly productive 2022-2023 season. The Mountaineer girls dispatched Algonquin Regional, 71-42, and returned for more 24 hours later to hand Leominster a 62-23 drubbing. The wins improved their season record to 13-1 with but a handful of regular season matchups remaining. “This season has been an incredible experience, and I hope we can take it all this year,” said team co-captain and senior Emmy Allyn. “Coming into the season, we all thought we’d be doing well. We came in with a winning attitude, so we knew that would help us take it all the way.”
“The girls on this team are so close with each other, and I feel like that translates directly onto the court. We have such great chemistry,” said junior sharpshooter Mary Gibbons, who leads the Mid-Wach A with an 18.6 average points per game, which includes 36 conversions beyond the arc. “We know where everyone’s going to be on the court. We know where the good passes are.
“We lost about a week ago (54-43 against Bishop Guertin High), and we needed that loss actually. That hurt us, but it motivated us; we never want to feel that way again during the season. We work so hard in practice every day. We never take breaks. We’re all in. The energy this team has on and off the court makes us so successful.”
“We’re all good friends on and off the court,” added senior co-captain Lizzy Majersky. “We’re like a family. We rely on each other and trust each other. We work so well as a team. Hopefully, we can keep on winning and take this all the way.”
“My teammates and the culture that this team has makes such a difference,” senior co-captain Logan Baker said. “We all show up every day for each other. We do so much together, like going out to eat and hanging out at each other’s houses. My teammates are like my sisters and friends at this point.”
Leading scorers versus Algonquin were Liz Cain, who recorded a career night scoring 24 points, Gibbons with 20, and Majersky with 11. Against Leominster, it was Gibbons with 21 and Cain with 9 points. The excessive point differential allowed head coach Jim Oxford the opportunity to open his bench for his nonstarters to have the opportunity to collect minutes as the games wound down.
There has been so much success in recent years for the Mountaineer girls’ basketball teams. In the past dozen years, they have earned the titles of District finalists five times and District champions three times, and a season ago, they became State semifinalists. Could this be the year for even greater accomplishments?
“All we can do is play well and hope for the chance to knock on that door and cross the threshold to get us into the games,” Oxford answered. “I like our kids, and we’ve seen a lot of the other teams who are good. It comes down to which teams in that 32 minutes are going to assert themselves.
“We’ve got a really exceptional group of girls who work hard. At this point in the season, we just need to execute better as we get ready for the Districts and the post-season. I expect our defense the more we play will get better. Our offense is good, but we need to see them be a little more efficient. Our shooting has been good, and I think we’re faster in the post area so we can bring our post players up and play full court man with much more aggression.”
Senior night recognition was held prior to the contest with Algonquin Regional. Honored were Emmy Allyn, Logan Baker and Lizzy Majersky.
Members of the 2022-2023 Wachusett Regional High School girls’ varsity basketball team are Rileigh Leary, Emmy Allyn, Mary Gibbons, Liz Cain, Logan Baker. Akosua Adu-Gyamfi, Jaelynn Scott, Cate King, Hannah Best, Lizzy Majersky, Sophie Gibbons and Olivia Reidy. Team captains are Emmy Allyn, Logan Baker and Lizzy Majersky.
