WOBURN, Mass. — Wachusett's road back to the MIAA Division 1 championship game has required significant learning and adjustments from a team that graduated seven seniors from last year's runner-up squad.
But the new-era Mountaineers have aced practically every test, and it's led them to the revenge opportunity they hoped for.
Top-seeded Wachusett gutted out a 44-35 semifinal victory against fourth-seeded Braintree on Tuesday at Woburn High. The Mountaineers advance to a rematch with second-seeded and reigning champion Bishop Feehan (Saturday, 6 p.m. at Tsongas Center).
"When the season started at tryouts the first night, I looked at what I saw, and I was thinking, 'There's no way in hell we're going to make it past the beginning of the postseason," Wachusett coach Jim Oxford said. "We were just so young and inexperienced — and those kids just came around."
To get there, the Mountaineers (23-1) had to beat a Braintree (21-3) team that presented an imposing defense with rare matching size. Wachusett built small leads throughout the game but watched them get whittled away by timely 3-pointers from Braintree's Eva Downing and Kate Sweeney. Braintree had even cut the gap down to 35-33 with 4:26 to play before Wachusett closed on a 9-2 run. The gap never reached double digits.
"Now they've learned that they can win big games when the crowd's a little hostile, when we're not on our floor," Oxford said. "They're learning a lot this year about basketball. The coaches, we know all this stuff, but they're learning, and so we just don't want it to stop."
Here are five takeaways from the closely-contested contest.
Jaelynn Scott has special natural talent
Scott scored a game-high 12 points, and though the point total doesn't pop, the manner in which she got buckets did. The 6-foot junior forward can effortlessly turn on the switch to straight-line drive past anyone, which she did on occasion Tuesday. Scott draws a lot of the opponent's biggest, longest defenders, but that only puts her in a more advantageous position to use speed and fly by. She also hit an easy spot-up 3-pointer and was threatening as a scorer and passer in transition.
Even against Braintree's size, Scott dominated on the boards. She's also a dangerous help defender with her length and timing skills.
"She's just so instinctive. Things that we have to tell players about (with) movement – for Jae, it's like, 'I'll just take one step and block the shot,'" Oxford said. "Most of that stuff is Jaelynn — that's not me, it's her."
Scott was a rare Mountaineer who did play on the Tsongas Center stage in last winter's championship. She's the most experienced member of the group, and she's more ready to assert herself this time around.
"It's just confidence and your mentality. You have to be ready to play," she said.
Sophie Gibbons and Teegan Lanpher are pests — in the best way
Gibbons, 5-foot-6, and Lanpher, maybe a generous 5-foot-4, certainly don't intimidate teams with their size. But they're each explosive off the dribble and relentless competitors. Together they join Scott to create a legitimate Big Three.
Lanpher (8 points) got the duo started with a strong first half, including a bucket where she flew around a double screen on the perimeter, left the defense in the dust and converted a lefty layup. In the second half it was Gibbons gapping defenders on her drives before stopping on a dime for pull-up 2s and runners. They both work extremely hard on the defensive end as well to frustrate opposing guards and pounce on loose balls.
"That also goes with the intensity. That's our mindset all the time, is to have greater intensity than the other team," Gibbons said. "And I just think realizing what works for us in the beginning of the game, and just keep doing it and executing it, really helps us."
Keep an eye on Kyla Yurkus
Wachusett is already led by youth, but Yurkus has quietly been an important growing piece to the starting five. The freshman doesn't have a listed height, but she's probably 6-1 or 6-2, and strong. She scored 10 points in the victory and came up with some critical offensive rebounds and paint points late in the win. Yurkus does a nice job establishing position in the post, calling for and catching entry passes, and finishing shots around the rim.
"She's really grown as a freshman," Scott said. "I know it's hard starting as a freshman — it's kind of hard, all the pressure — but she's been doing really great this season."
Braintree is out, but a new foundation is laid
Braintree was one of the state's most stunning breakout stories this season — we even had coach Kelley Macdonald on the HoopWise Podcast to discuss the program's turnaround.
Frankie Spadorcia was the senior leader throughout the winter and won Bay State Conference MVP. Braintree will miss her impact as an athletic center, but the future remains bright. Junior Frankie Mazzini has established herself as an impact perimeter defender and steady point guard. Sophomore Eva Downing, who scored a team-high 11 points, has scoring upside with her confident 3-ball and developing ability to take players off the dribble. Even sophomore Kate Sweeney caught fire with 10 points and two important 3s.
"It stinks to end like that, but yes, to look back and see what we did and accomplished ... This was nowhere near my radar, to be in the Final 4. Nowhere near my radar," Macdonald said.
The importance of building basketball community
In unique ways, Wachusett and Braintree each showed the power of creating a sustainable chain of basketball interest in their respective towns.
Mary Gibbons, older sister of Sophie, was the star of last year's squad and now an impact freshman at Navy. She showed up to Woburn to cheer on the Mountaineers. Belle Lanpher, the Northeast Conference Player of the Year at Central Connecticut State, is also Teegan's older sister. Those two and other alumni remain active in Wachusett's basketball pipeline; when college winter break hits, they often return to help the current Wachusett team in practices.
"That just means that the program meant a lot to them, and they're just coming back to try to help the girls that are in the program right now," Oxford said. "And they do a lot with our little kids in travel leagues. ... So that's always good, that they care enough about the program to come back and give back."
Oxford noted how rowdy and well-stocked Braintree's crowd was Tuesday. That speaks to the fervent interest Macdonald and the team have helped revive, harkening back to the heyday of the 2010s, when Braintree was a state powerhouse under now-Norwood coach Kristen McDonnell.
Stephanie Burrell even Tweeted pictures including her daughter, Abigail Burrell, as both a young girl in Braintree's youth program and now a sophomore on the team. Macdonald championed her squad for creating an energy that will inspire the next wave of Braintree talent in attendance.
"It makes my job easier," she said. "I don't have to go out there and recruit and be like, 'Come on, you gotta stay in Braintree.' These girls are doing that for me."
