The Wachusett girls basketball team, by rule, begins road trips with a silent bus ride to focus on the upcoming opponent.
Recently, a new tradition has highlighted buses home: the postgame rap.
It started last winter and evolved with this year’s team. Junior Ruth Marcel writes the verses, which recount the big moments and themes from the game. Sophomore Teegan Lanpher starts the rap before the rest of the Mountaineers join in.
The renditions carried all throughout the Mountaineers’ historic season, right up to the final bus home from their first Division 1 championship. As the players rapped about Scott’s winning layup with three seconds left, securing a state title and getting revenge against Bishop Feehan in a championship rematch, 19th-year head coach Jim Oxford saw the power of the young, fun-loving group he says has changed him.
