{"id":47316,"date":"2024-02-15T20:46:32","date_gmt":"2024-02-15T20:46:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=47316"},"modified":"2024-02-15T20:46:32","modified_gmt":"2024-02-15T20:46:32","slug":"wrhs-girls-varsity-basketball-going-strong","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2024\/02\/15\/wrhs-girls-varsity-basketball-going-strong\/","title":{"rendered":"WRHS girls' varsity basketball going strong"},"content":{"rendered":"
By John Orrell<\/em>
\nLandmark Correspondent<\/em><\/div>\n

HOLDEN \u2014 Sundays are often labeled \u2018fun days\u2019, and for the Wachusett Regional High basketball team, that label was spot on when the Mountaineer girls hosted Bishop Fenwick High Feb. 4.<\/p>\n

There was much to cheer about on this sunny Sunday afternoon, which included senior recognition day. Graduating seniors are Rileigh Leary, Mary Gibbons, Liz Cain, Lil Chaisson, Caitlin Ciccone, Hannah Best and Olivia Reidy. All have played vital roles in the Mountaineer 2023-2024 campaign.<\/p>\n

But perhaps the highlight many came to see was 17-year varsity head coach Jim Oxford nailing down his 301st career victory in a 62-43 trouncing of the state Division 1 rival. It was a most celebrated occasion with family, friends and team supporters all joining in prior to tipoff. Oxford\u2019s milestones include numerous CMass titles and two state semifinals in the past two years. Oxford and his unyielding squad look to go deep in this winter season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe really want a state championship title because we\u2019ve never been there,\u201d Oxford said. \u201cHopefully, with this group, we keep building on things. I told them after the game that today was a building block going forward through the playoffs.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe wanted this game really badly. We had a few days to prep for it, and at halftime we were pretty determined to come out and create some separation. These girls, when they get teams down, they try to finish things.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe showed today that we can play against any team and win by a good score,\u201d added senior co-captain Rileigh Leary. \u201cIt just proves what we can do with a lot of hard work. People say we don\u2019t play against good competition, but we proved today that we can beat good teams.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wachusett, ranked third in the MIAA Division1 power rankings, advanced their record to 15-0, with a rematch against Bishop Fenwick scheduled for Feb. 17 at the Crusaders home court.<\/p>\n

Yet again, as in matchups through the season, senior co-captain Mary Gibbons dominated, recording 27 points, including four shots from 3-point range. Sophomore Jaelynn Scott further established herself as one to watch, connecting for 17 points.<\/p>\n

Wachusett came up short in the opening 16 minutes, but Gibbons nailed a 3-pointer at the buzzer, allowing the Mountaineers to go up, 25-24, entering the break. In the second half, the green and white broke free thanks to a quick 6-0 run. Leary, Hannah Best and Liz Cain all hit key baskets to run up a 22-point fourth quarter. Gritty freshman Teegan Lanpher joined in the fun by connecting for a 3-pointer of her own.<\/p>\n

\u201cDuring halftime, Coach was trying to encourage us, and we proved that we could play with them in the first half,\u201d Gibbons explained. \u201cWhen we came out in the second half, shots were going in, and we knew we had to keep going. We couldn\u2019t afford to lay back. We had to play like we have all season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis (Oxford\u2019s milestone victory) is so special to me. I wouldn\u2019t want to be anywhere else. We\u2019ve all put everything we had going into this game. We come to practice and work our butts off, and we come prepared.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m always happy when we beat good teams, especially at this point in the season,\u201d Oxford said. \u201cWe saw Bishop Fenwick play and we did what we were supposed to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love this group of kids. They\u2019ve been together for so long, and for the past two years they\u2019ve gone to the semifinals. They\u2019ve earned it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By John Orrell Landmark Correspondent HOLDEN \u2014 Sundays are often labeled \u2018fun days\u2019, and for the Wachusett Regional High basketball team, that label was spot on when the Mountaineer girls hosted Bishop Fenwick High Feb. 4. There was much to cheer about on this sunny Sunday afternoon, which included senior recognition day. Graduating seniors are […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47317,"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-47316","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\/47316","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=47316"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47316\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47316"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47316"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47316"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}