{"id":47489,"date":"2024-03-21T13:27:14","date_gmt":"2024-03-21T13:27:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thelandmark.com\/?p=47489"},"modified":"2024-03-21T13:27:14","modified_gmt":"2024-03-21T13:27:14","slug":"mountaineer-girls-fall-to-bishop-feehan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/2024\/03\/21\/mountaineer-girls-fall-to-bishop-feehan\/","title":{"rendered":"Mountaineer girls fall to Bishop Feehan"},"content":{"rendered":"
By John Orrell<\/em>
\nLandmark Correspondent<\/em><\/div>\n

Wachusett Regional High’s bid for a Division 1 state championship ended March 15 with a 48-40 loss to top-seed Bishop Feehan High at Lowell\u2019s Tsongas Center. The teams battled from start to finish, with top honors on the line and what would have been the first championship in Wachusett school history.<\/p>\n

The No. 2 seed Mountaineers (24-1) entered the contest having made their third-consecutive semifinal appearance and having defeated Feehan, 76-45, last month. Earning a championship berth took post-season victories over Brockton, Braintree, Weymouth and Springfield Central.<\/p>\n

Emotions ran high as the second half buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the team\u2019s dream, set months ago. Tears flowed mightily, especially for the seniors playing in their final matchup. Rileigh Leary, Mary Gibbons, Liz Cain, Lil Chaisson, Caitlin Ciccone, Hannah Best and Olivia Reidy all had donned the green and white for one final time.<\/p>\n

But the Shamrocks had other ideas, and what better timing for them than St. Patrick\u2019s Day? Despite Wachusett\u2019s lopsided win earlier in the season, Bishop Feehan arrived poised and ready to bring their best, while the Mountaineers never got into a steady, rhythmic flow, according to head coach Jim Oxford.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an honor and a privilege to be able to coach these kids,\u201d said Oxford in an earlier interview. \u201cOur players are smart. They work hard and take what they learn individually, and they bring it to these games. I\u2019m so proud of them.\u201d<\/p>\n

This 2023-2024 season marked the third consecutive campaign in which the green and white have captured the MIAA Division 1 Final Four trophy. Wachusett fell to Andover in last year\u2019s semifinals and looked to reverse that trend to give the program its first state championship.<\/p>\n

Once more this season was Gibbons\u2019 game high (16 points on the night) leading the way. But putting just 40 points on the board was an anomaly for this group, which averaged more than 60 points per game all season. Kudos to the Shamrock defense, including senior Julia Webster, who tallied a team-high 15 points and was part of an exceedingly stout defensive unit that held the Mountaineers in check.<\/p>\n

Feehan came out strong, taking a 22-16 advantage into halftime, but Wachusett looked to reverse fortunes in the final 16 minutes. Cain, Gibbons and Best combined for an 8-0 run that included erasing a 14-point deficit with just under 3 minutes remaining in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Gibbons, who plays the game with unbridled grit and determination, suffered a bloody left elbow in the fourth quarter, necessitating a trip to the bench for bandaging. She returned and buried a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to two points, 38-36, with just under 3 minutes remaining in the game, but the Shamrocks scored 7 consecutive points to seal the win and earn the state title.<\/p>\n

Leading scorers on the night for Wachusett included Gibbons with 16 while Best scored 6 points, Cain 8, and sophomore Jaelynn Scott with 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been playing together since fourth grade, so it\u2019s special,\u201d said Gibbons of the roles of the senior team captains. \u201cWe\u2019re the people we used to look up to when we were little, and now we are the ones trying to set an example for the younger kids, and it\u2019s great to see them here. This is what we\u2019ve wanted for the past 10 years.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were determined coming into the season,\u201d said Oxford, who eclipsed his 300th career milestone victory in early February. \u201cThey knew they were close after knocking at the door the last two years. They\u2019re playing with a lot of confidence. When we\u2019re shooting well and playing well, we\u2019re a hard team to beat.\u201d<\/p>\n

Members of the 2023-2024 Wachusett Regional High girls Division 1 MIAA semifinal 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\n\n\n\n
\"Content<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
Wachusett Regional High girls’ varsity basketball made it to the Final 4.<\/strong> Timothy Orrell<\/em><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By John Orrell Landmark Correspondent Wachusett Regional High’s bid for a Division 1 state championship ended March 15 with a 48-40 loss to top-seed Bishop Feehan High at Lowell\u2019s Tsongas Center. The teams battled from start to finish, with top honors on the line and what would have been the first championship in Wachusett school […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":47490,"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-47489","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\/47489","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=47489"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47489\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47490"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47489"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47489"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/devcherryroad.com\/news2\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47489"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}