WRHS Girls Basketball Rule the Court

Jim Oxford has been at the helm of the Wachusett girls’ basketball team for 21 years. When he first took over the program, the Mountaineers had not made the state tournament in some time, but Oxford was able to transform the team during his first season. Wachusett made the tournament that first year and has done so every year since.

Three years ago, the Mountaineers lost in the Final Four, falling to the number one seed Andover. The following year they leapt into the state finals as the number two seed but unfortunately fell 48-40 to the top dog Bishop Feehan. Last year they not only returned to the championship game but were able to get revenge on Feehan 55-54 to take home the Division 1 Girls Basketball State Championship after going 19-1 and earning the number one seed. 

“Our goal has been to get better while advancing further into the tournament each year,” Oxford said. “For the most part we’ve gone at least as far as the semis year after year.”

This year Oxford and his team not only wanted to return to the state finals for the third straight year, but they wanted to become back-to-back champions. According to the Wachusett coach, no Division 1 Central Mass girls’ team had ever won two straight state championships.

Wachusett went 17-3 during the regular season and found themselves with a number three seed in this year’s Division 1 tournament. In their first four games the Mountaineers were more than dominant, beating their opponents by an average of 31.25 points per game. Wachusett took out Central Catholic (78-38), Acton Boxboro (67-29), Natick (63-26) and number two seed and nemesis Bishop Feehan (54-44) to make it back to the finals.

The championship game pitted Wachusett against the number one seed Springfield Central in this year’s tournament, a team that won their four playoff games by an average of 33 points per contest. In the championship game Wachusett was led by junior shooting guard Teegan Lanpher who scored a team high 22 points, including 13 coming in the final stanza. Jaelyn Scott, one of the best if not the best public-school players in the state according to Oxford, would add 11 points of her own to help Wachusett capture back-to-back state championships with a 55-47 win over Springfield Central. Scott will be taking her basketball skills to Tulsa, Oklahoma next year.

Another Mountaineer that will be extending her basketball career next year is senior point guard Sophie Gibbons, who will be playing for Endicott College in Beverly. 

“Coming into the season we definitely wanted to win the state championship again,” Oxford said. “Having lost only one starter while returning a lot of our core players, it was definitely a possibility. Now we are back-to-back state champions.”

Lanpher, who lead the team in scoring this year, will be back for one more season next year along with 6-foot 2-inch sophomore center Kayla Yurkus. Wachusett will also have freshman guard Miya Maziarz, who saw some action coming off the bench this season while providing the team with strong defense and rebounding. Sophomore guard/forward Lucy Gibbons will bring rebounding and three-point shooting to the court.

The team is going to need Maziarz and Gibbons to improve their game if the Mountaineers are to win three straight titles. Oxford will have returning talent next year as well as those who did not see a lot of playing time and a crop of newcomers.

“Every year we show up to play for a state title and now that we have two, we know that we have to continue to get better, improve our skills and stay hungry,” Oxford said. “When you win one everyone knows who you are, you win two they’re gunning for you, so we need to make sure that we show up and are ready to play night in and night out.”

All the opposing schools on their schedule know what Wachusett brings to the court – and they want to be the one who knocks off the two-time defending state champions. Having become the first Division 1 girls’ team to accomplish the feat, the Mountaineers are already talking about winning back-to-back-to-back championships. 

“One day after winning back-to-back titles the girls were already talking about doing it again,” Oxford said. “It’s a mindset and a culture that we built, and the girls are anxiously awaiting next season.”  W