Mascenic celebrated their four seniors before Monday night's girls' basketball game against Wilton-Lyndeborough, but after the game, it was the Warriors who were celebrating both a win and a guaranteed home playoff game. 

"With tonight's win, we should be locked into a home playoff game," WLC head coach Tom Crowley said after their 57-33 road victory. "That's what we wanted at the beginning of the season, so goal accomplished there. More work to be done though."

The Vikings gave their four seniors  – Skye Lambert, Hannah Zina, Emma Cargill and Ella Pearson -- a round of applause before their final home game. They performed well on the court, as Pearson and Zina tied for a team-high 10 points, but Mascenic struggled with WLC's aggressive defense and full-court press. 

"Mascenic's no pushover," Crowley said. "They played us tough, but our pressure just is tough for teams to handle."

WLC senior leader Adri Bausha was all over the passing lanes, jumping on errant Viking passes like a free safety and scoring a team-high 22 points, just outpacing younger sister Lexi, a pickpocket herself who dropped in 18 points off steals and transition. 

"[Adri] is a force out there," Crowley said. "She is very strong, mobile, can do a little bit of everything. She anchors our defense down low and plays the girls tough."

With the win, WLC finishes the regular season at 13-5, one better than Crowley's early season prediction and good enough to lock in at least the seventh seed in the upcoming NHIAA Division IV playoffs. That gives the Warriors their first home playoff game in over a decade, another huge step back to relevancy for a program that was unable to field a varsity team just a few years ago and is now building a promising future. 

"It's very nice to see the girls' team can get back in contention after not having a season in 2019-2020 and trying to work through the COVID mess," Crowley said. "I have some middle-schoolers that are excited; some were actually here tonight watching the game, so they're into it too."

The current Warriors got a taste of postseason action last year, when they sneaked in as the 12th seed and were two points away from an upset of No. 5 Newmarket. Now the higher seed, WLC is looking to defend its home court and advance. 

"The girls are hungry," Crowley said. "We're all hungry, but we're taking it one game at a time. We can't look ahead because obviously there's no easy game in playoffs no matter what. They know going in that any given night, any given day, anybody can beat you. And the same thing, vice versa, they can beat anybody any day."

The Warriors are expected to host a home playoff game Tuesday, Feb. 20, at 7 p.m. The Mascenic loss leaves the Warriors at 6-12 on the year, one win out of the 16th and final D-IV playoff spot.