The Wilton-Lyndeborough girls’ basketball team is feeling good after beating Mascenic Tuesday night for the Warriors’ first varsity win since 2019.
“The girls have been looking forward to this at least since I took over a few years ago,” said WLC head coach Tom Crowley after the Warriors’ 46-35 win. “We’ve been working towards that goal to be competitive again. Tonight really showed they had some guts, so I was really happy with how they did.”
Due to dwindling participation numbers, Wilton-Lyndeborough has been operating at the sub-varsity level since the 2019-2020 season and finally returned to Division IV play last week with a season-opening loss at Epping. WLC still only has eight healthy players rostered, low enough that their pregame handshake gauntlet takes considerable planning, but also low enough that they were able to call up middle-schooler Lexi Bausha, a gritty guard who took over Tuesday’s game just before halftime.
Mascenic and WLC were neck-and-neck for most of the first half, with the Vikings launching perimeter shots and the Warriors bulling their way into the lane. But with two minutes to go and Mascenic up two, Bausha got a game-tying layup, stole the inbounds pass and scored, converted an and-one and then stole the ball for another layup; the personal 9-0 run put WLC up 25-18 at the half.
Bausha, senior Bri Fish and sophomore Kelsey Crouse, among others, are all aggressive defensively, which is helping define the Warriors’ strength so far this season.
“We’ve got a few girls who are so defensive-minded that I can run out there,” Crowley said.
Bausha finished with 18 points in the win; Maddy LaBrecque had 11 and Fish added eight.
The Warriors will experience growing pains this season, to be sure. After almost four years away from varsity play, WLC has a lot of learning to do about in-game situations; with a commanding lead in the final minutes, the Warriors kept launching three-pointers as Crowley waved for them to slow the ball down.
“It felt like we took more shots in that little stretch than we did the whole game,” Crowley said.
But their competitive spirit should carry them to some more wins this season, as it did Tuesday night.
WLC (1-1) hosts Farmington Friday at 5:30 p.m.
Mascenic is coming into this season with a similarly clean slate after dropping down to Division IV, losing the majority of last year’s roster to disinterest and adding a new pair of co-coaches in Victoria Caiado and Amanda Wolanyk.
“I think it’s been going well so far,” Wolanyk said. “You’re going to have your bumpy patches no matter where you go. Everyone’s staying positive, everyone’s communicating well and we’re working as a team as if we were working together beforehand.”
The Vikings opened with Newmarket on Friday and then hosted WLC Tuesday; despite losing both, the coaches said their team has the right perspective.
“Everyone’s been really positive,” Caiado said. “After both games, everyone is still happy, everyone’s smiling, win or lose. That’s what we want. We want them happy. And that’s been great so far.”
The Vikings have just one senior, Leah St. John, as several of last year’s starters opted not to play this winter. But between new recruits like Ella Pearson (11 points) and Sienna Gregory (seven points), experienced junior Skye Lambert (five points) and St. John (10 points), Mascenic should be able to put something together this winter.
“We rely on those girls who played last year to help motivate the team,” Caiado said, “and give us [feedback]: ‘Hey, this isn’t working on the court, this person’s doing this to me. OK, let’s adjust.’ So having them out there is very helpful.”
On Tuesday, the Vikings stumbled against WLC’s tenacious defense but regained composure and cut the lead to respectable before game’s end.
“They’re fighters,” Wolanyk said. “They’re not going to give up. I think once we catch it a little bit earlier, once we realize we’re starting to feel uncertain about how to proceed, we need to get back up and say ‘This is how we do it.’ ”
Mascenic (0-2) is at Hinsdale Wednesday.