{"id":47211,"date":"2024-01-25T14:50:37","date_gmt":"2024-01-25T14:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=47211"},"modified":"2024-01-25T14:50:37","modified_gmt":"2024-01-25T14:50:37","slug":"wrhs-girls-continue-perfect-season-with-70-30-win-over-algonquin-regional","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2024\/01\/25\/wrhs-girls-continue-perfect-season-with-70-30-win-over-algonquin-regional\/","title":{"rendered":"WRHS girls continue perfect season with 70-30 win over Algonquin Regional"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"byline\"><em>By John Orrell<\/em><br \/>\n<em>Landmark Correspondent<\/em><\/div>\n<p>HOLDEN \u2014 The victories just keep coming for this intrepid bunch. The Wachusett Regional High girls\u2019 varsity basketball team improved its season record to 9-0 with a 70-30 shellacking of visiting Algonquin Regional on Jan. 12. The Mountaineers were led yet again by an unworldly performance by U.S. Naval Academy-bound senior Mary Gibbons, who hit beyond the arc 7 times as part of her 29-point overall performance. Sophomore Jaelynn Scott chipped in with 10 points.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s no secret that this is a special group of student-athletes, who continue to inch their way closer to the promised land \u2014 also known as MIAA playoffs \u2014 but all agree there is much more to accomplish before becoming reaching such lofty goals.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEvery year, we go into tryouts with the goal that we\u2019re going to win a state title,\u201d said head coach Jim Oxford. \u201cSix times we\u2019ve been to the state semifinals, and this year we know we have a good team again. We know we have the potential to go really, really far. We just have to keep reminding ourselves to work hard and it\u2019ll pay off in the end.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like the fact that we play hard in games, and I like the style that we play and that they buy into it. I like the fact that we can play inside or outside. We have tremendous shooters, and we\u2019re very athletic. I like that our seniors are good leaders and set good examples by the way they practice, and (that) they show how committed they are to the game of basketball and the program we have here. They set a good example for our younger players.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe chemistry on and off the court is amazing,\u201d Gibbons said. \u201cWe\u2019re all so close, like a family, and we\u2019re all genuine friends. Everyone has the same goal, which is to go the state finals again. When everyone has that same goal, it translates out onto the court, and that\u2019s how we play.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSometimes we get a little relaxed and comfortable, but we try to pick it up at practice. We know our limits. We have our fun, but we definitely know when to focus on games. Last week we were playing Nashoba, and we didn\u2019t play our best game there. They were winning at halftime, but we feel like we respect all and fear none. We just go in with the win one at a time mentality, and that\u2019s how we play our game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know to take things one game at a time and not get ahead of ourselves,\u201d added fellow senior Liz Cain. \u201cWe look at every game separately. We really are like a family. I\u2019ve known these girls for a long time.\u201d<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_47212\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-47212\" style=\"width: 169px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-47212\" src=\"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2024\/01\/01-24-05-379143_1-169x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"169\" height=\"300\" srcset=\"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2024\/01\/01-24-05-379143_1-169x300.jpg 169w, https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2024\/01\/01-24-05-379143_1-7x12.jpg 7w, https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/25\/2024\/01\/01-24-05-379143_1.jpg 273w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 169px) 100vw, 169px\" \/><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-47212\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">HOLDEN &#8211; A Wachusett teammate takes to the free throw line against Algonquin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The team continues its torrid pace in Mid-Wach A, leveling all opponents that come their way. The Mountaineers have won 8 of 9 games by margins of greater than 20 points. Oxford knows that this bunch has the capability to take things far as they approach the midpoint of the season. Only one aspect stands out as something he\u2019d like to see a touch more of.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur kids are really nice, and I\u2019d actually like to see them be a little more edgy,\u201d he said. \u201cI tell them it\u2019s OK to be mad at each other and bark a little. It\u2019s OK as long as you do those things constructively if you\u2019re trying to get better. They\u2019re who they are, and I love who they are, and I just hope that we continue to be successful.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Members of the 2023-2024 Wachusett Regional High girls varsity basketball team are Rileigh Leary, Sophie Gibbons, Mary Gibbons, Liz Cain, Lil Chaisson, Jae Scott, Akosua Adu-Gyamfi, Caitlin Ciccone, Hannah Best, Teegan Lanpher and Olivia Reidy. Captains are Leary, Cain, Best and Mary Gibbons.<\/p>\n<p>The team is head-coached by Jim Oxford, assisted by Bob Champlin, Rusty Dillon, John Matheson, Kathryn McDonald, Ron Scarborough and Laura Vinton.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By John Orrell Landmark Correspondent HOLDEN \u2014 The victories just keep coming for this intrepid bunch. The Wachusett Regional High girls\u2019 varsity basketball team improved its season record to 9-0 with a 70-30 shellacking of visiting Algonquin Regional on Jan. 12. The Mountaineers were led yet again by an unworldly performance by U.S. Naval Academy-bound [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47213,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_gspb_post_css":"","_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-47211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"blocksy_meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47211","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47211"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47211\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47213"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47211"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47211"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47211"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}