HOLDEN — The shift from regular season competition to playoffs can be daunting, but for the Wachusett Regional High girls basketball team, not so much.
The now 21-0 Mountaineers (No. 2 seed) ensured a seamless transition with near impenetrable defense and a prolific offense to upend the visiting Brockton High Boxers (No. 34 seed) on Feb. 29. The 54-17 MIAA Division 1 victory propelled Wachusett on to a second-round home matchup with No. 15 seed Braintree High (11-10) earlier this week.
“We really didn’t want this to be our last game, so we worked as hard as possible,” said senior co-captain Liz Cain. “Our coaches stress hustle in practice, so we’re always running and getting conditioned. That really allows us to translate onto the court.”
That sentiment echoed through the team, including senior co-captain Rileigh Leary.
“There was no doubt in my mind that this wasn’t going to be our last game,” Leary said postgame. “We’re at the point in the season where every game could be our last game, and we have to play like that.
“This is step one of five,” she said, referring to the number of wins necessary to reach the team’s goal of a state championship.
“We’re not getting too far ahead of ourselves, but they have a collective goal, and this is the first step towards achieving that goal,” said head coach Jim Oxford. “It doesn’t matter who we’re playing. If we play good defense, we’re going to shut things down. We just have to commit to playing great defense and boxing out and rebounding, and we’re in great shape.”
Wachusett did, in fact, place themselves in great shape by shutting out the Boxers in the second quarter. That stoppage and a strong infusion of scoring allowed the green and white to pull away for keeps by taking a 30-9 halftime advantage into the locker room.
Leading scorers on the night included Mary Gibbons with 14 points, along with Cain (13), Leary (11) and Hannah Best (7).
Brockton had defeated No. 31 seed North Andover in the first round of the tournament before having their season come to an end at the hands of the Mountaineers.
“We didn’t have to adjust to too many things,” said Oxford. “We just had to play well.”
The highlight play of the game could easily go to Leary, who buried a 3-point buzzer-beater at the close of the first half.
“That was an exciting way to end the half,” she said. “I think that boosted morale.”
“Our coaches told us that we had five steps to go and this was step one,” said Best. “We just took care of it, and we look forward to our next game.”
