Lady Cats Capture Summer League Title

by Ken Brown

HARDWICK – The Hazen Union girls’ summer league basketball team hosted and won their own tournament over the weekend, besting some stiff competition in the likes of North Country, Colchester, and Lamoille.

The Lady Cats suffered their only loss on the weekend, 48-27, on Saturday as all four teams jockeyed for seeding on Sunday. Hazen exacted some revenge in the opening round on Sunday, edging the Lady Lancers 37-35 to advance to the championship game. Head coach Randy Lumsden and his squad took care of business against Colchester, 54-39, to win the title. Colchester’s varsity program will be under new leadership this coming winter as former Craftsbury Academy legend Jeff Davis returns to the sidelines after a three-year hiatus. Davis was a 1,000-point scorer for the Chargers, leading them to their last Division IV state championship in the early ’90s. He last coached the Mount Mansfield Union boys’ varsity program, racking up nearly 300 wins and claiming three state titles over 20 seasons at the helm.

“We had a fun weekend and the girls battled and showed some true grit on Sunday. We made some good adjustments against Lamoille the second time around and carried it over against a Colchester team that came ready to play after winning their side of the bracket against North Country. It was a good prep for our program against some solid high school teams,” said Lumsden.

The Lady Cat program is coming off an impressive twenty-win season and a Division III Final Four appearance in Lumsden’s first season on the sidelines. He’ll return two-time Vermont Dream Dozen selection Caitlyn Davison to run the offense along with sharpshooter Tessa Luther for their senior campaigns. His returning core will be joined by an uber-athletic freshman class that is coming off a dominant undefeated season under junior varsity coach Alison Blainey. Joining Lumsden and Blainey on the Lady Cat coaching staff over the summer were a pair of former high school prolific scorers in Sue Rivard and Dorothy Hill. Both Rivard (North Country) and Hill (Cabot) finished their careers well north of 1,000 career points.

Wildcats Tackle Stiff Competition at Lyndon Hoop Camp

LYNDONVILLE – Hazen Union boys’ varsity head coach Aaron Hill has been pitting his Division III perennial basketball power program against some of the best competition in the state this summer and the trend continued last week at the Lyndon Hoop Camp.

The Wildcats joined Lyndon Institute, North Country, Danville, Twinfield-Cabot, Littleton, South Burlington, Lamoille, U-32, White River Valley, Montpelier, and CVU in the weekend jamboree that took place at Lyndon Institute and VSU-Lyndon on July 29-30. The twelve teams jockeyed for seeding on Saturday and the Wildcats defeated North Country in their first-round match-up on Sunday morning. They fell to reigning Division II state champion Montpelier in the second round and the Solons would go on to win the tournament, impressively edging Division I state champion CVU by six points. Hill’s Wildcats have made it five Division III Final Fours in the last six years, back-to-back state title games, winning the program’s eighth state title in 2022. Tyler Rivard has moved on after becoming the first player in school history to eclipse the 1,000-career mark in both points and rebounds. Hill will also have to replace starters Jadon Baker and Lincoln Michaud, but he returns two-time Vermont Dream Dozen selection Xavier Hill along with sharpshooting junior Brendan Moodie. He also looks for big things from returning seniors Ryan Morrison and Gabe Michaud, with Morrison reportedly hitting yet another growth spurt over the summer. Hill also likes what he’s seen from his young players over the summer against some of the best competition in the state.

“Xavier and Brendan showed they can carry some more of the offensive load late last season and they’ve looked really good this summer. Gabe is going to be a huge piece for us this coming season and Ryan has really grown into his body and has shown a lot of toughness inside for us in these camps. Sophomores Sully Laflam and Morgan Michaud have also shown some nice flashes this summer, which is exciting. We also get Felton Meyer back for his senior season, which is a nice addition to the team,” said Hill.