'So much credit goes to everyone around me': Wachusett girls' basketball nets win No. 300 for Jim Oxford
HOLDEN — The Wachusett Regional girls’ basketball team had plenty to celebrate Tuesday night.
First, in a pregame ceremony, the Mountaineers honored their seven seniors and their families, then, they went out and beat Shrewsbury, 65-36, to remain undefeated and deliver coach Jim Oxford his 300th victory.
The Mountaineers cheered Oxford, and gathered around him, his wife and their kids as they held a banner commemorating his milestone.
“It’s so special being with Coach Ox for the last four years,” said Wachusett senior guard Mary Gibbons, who scored a game-high 25 points. “He’s just an amazing coach. We’re so fortunate to be coached by him. It’s such a privilege. For him to get his 300th win is really awesome.”
Wachusett, the No. 3 team in the latest MIAA Division 1 power rankings, ran its record to 14-0, 7-0 in Mid-Wach A.
In Oxford’s 17 seasons at Wachusett, his winning percentage is .829.
“It’s an honor to be on the team that got the 300th win,” senior forward Rileigh Leary said.
Oxford guided the Mountaineers to eight Central Mass. Tournament final appearances — including five straight from 2014-15 to 2018-19 — and three CMass titles in the old tourney format. The last two seasons, in the statewide setup, Oxford has taken the Mountaineers to the state semifinals each year.
Wachusett, which has not allowed a team to score 50 points this season, certainly seems primed to make another run at its first state title this winter.
When Oxford took over the Wachusett program in 2007, he set out to start a travel league program to develop youngsters and prepare them for the high school team, and create a winning culture.
With the help of Wachusett’s dedicated parents, support from his assistant coaches and Wachusett athletic director Jennifer Lynch, and, of course, the hard work of his players, Oxford has done all that, and more.
“So much credit goes to everyone around me,” Oxford said. “It’s not just me. It’s an honor to coach all the players we’ve had at Wachusett. They are hard-working players and great people, and their families are awesome.
"My assistant coaches work very, very hard, and Jen Lynch is the best AD we could ever have. She just wants us to be successful and do things the right way. I’ve been real lucky I’ve had good people around me.”
Oxford is an English teacher at Leominster High.
“Besides his family and the school he works at,” Gibbons said, “this team is what he’s consumed with, and he puts so much time and effort into it. We appreciate that, and we’re so proud of him.”
Oxford had the same to say about his senior septet — Gibbons, Leary, Liz Cain, Hannah Best, Olivia Reidy, Caitlin Ciccone and Lilly Chaisson. Ciccone and Chaisson rejoined the basketball team this year after a couple of seasons of not playing.
“I’m really happy for the seniors,” Oxford said. “They’re a special group that has a lot of history together. They are skilled, but they are just tremendous people. I’m so lucky to be able to coach those kids.”
Green and white streamers hung from the entrance to the gym, and posters for each senior decorated the bleachers.
“We watched the seniors go through Senior Night the last three years, and it’s weird to be in this position,” Gibbons said. “It’s emotional and so special. We’re lucky to have such a great team, and it will be hard to leave at the end of this season, but we’re just focusing on getting better.”
Against Shrewsbury, Gibbons sank five 3-pointers and dished out six assists. Sophomore Jaelynn Scott scored 11 points and Best eight. Leary added seven points and five assists.
Senior Amanda Kalinowski led Shrewsbury (9-5, 3-3) with 11 points.
Kalinowski and freshman Addison O’Connor helped Shrewsbury take an early 7-4 lead, but the Mountaineers scored the final 10 points of the first quarter, and extended their run to 15-0 on Gibbons’ 3 and Best’s layup, off a pass from Gibbons, to open the second quarter.
Gibbons, Leary and Scott keyed Wachusett’s transition game early in the third, and Scott’s breakaway layup, off a pass from Leary, capped an 18-2 spurt to open the second half.
“We played really well as a team,” Leary said. “We executed what we were supposed to do. Everybody did their job, and that’s why we have the outcome that we do.”
—Contact Jennifer Toland at jennifer.toland@telegram.com. Follow her on X, formerly known as Twitter, @JenToland.
This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Wachusett girls' basketball nets win No. 300 for Jim Oxford
