For the first time in the school’s history, Rocky Hill Country Day’s Mariners secured the NEPSAC Girls Basketball Championship title, after a 50 – 52 victory over the strong Vermont Academy Wildcats.

The Mariners started off with some turnovers and missed shots, and the Wildcats jumped out to a 7-2 lead. Addison Mahar ‘27 (Wakefield, RI) got a big steal off an inbound play and that helped push the Mariners out on an 8-0 run. Lily Sokol ‘26 (Middletown, RI) made Rocky Hill’s first 3 FGs of the game and Dariia Serednytska ‘27 (Odessa, Ukraine) established herself inside, grabbing 2 offensive rebounds that put Vermont’s talented center in early foul trouble. The team started to reach on defense which led to some easy buckets for VA but Sophie Mahar ‘25 (Wakefield, RI) got to her spot for two deep 3’s and RHCD found themselves up 16-13 at the end of the 1st quarter.

Both teams started out the 2nd quarter with some tough plays, combining for 7 turnovers in the first 2 minutes. Darien Kiernan ‘26 (Cranston, RI) came in and provided a huge spark by burying 2 kick-out 3’s and playing some aggressive baseline defense in the 1-3-1 zone. Halfway through the period, Rocky Hill found themselves up 24-17 and gaining momentum. The Mariners were dominating in the paint and in control of the tempo on both ends of the court. Things slowed down for both teams, but Ju’elle West ‘24 (Providence, RI) made 2 huge buckets in the final 90 seconds off 2 beautiful passes from Sophie and Dariia and the team was up 32-22 at halftime.

Knowing the skill of their opponent, the Mariners started the 2nd half by coming out in a zone press to catch the Wildcats off guard. Dariia started to take control defensively, while Addie heated up offensively, and suddenly the team held their biggest lead of the game at 16 points, 40-24, with 5:10 to go in the 3rd.  From there, the Mariners worked together to regain focus, forcing early possession jump shots without taking much needed time off the clock. The quick shots put pressure on Vermont Academy, who began driving the paint and getting to the FT line. Rocky Hill didn’t score another basket in the quarter, while the Wildcats went on a 9-0 run to close the period out, bringing the Mariners’ lead to 40-33.

An early steal by Addie Mahar, leading to an assist to her sister Sophie, changed the mood for a minute but Vermont showed their character and their quality by relentlessly fighting for the remainder of the game. Rocky Hill got back to playing the ball into Lily and Dariia in the post and the team’s lead went back up to 10, 46-36, with 6:24 left in the game.  A 12-4 run built off FT’s and a clutch 3-pointer and Vermont was suddenly down just 2 points at 50-48 with 3:18 to go. Rocky Hill’s defense was getting sluggish as the opponent was gaining momentum, and the nerves were getting tight, but baskets by Addie and Lily canceled out 4 points by the Wildcats and the lead sat at two: 54-52. On the Mariners’ very next possession, the team took a couple more quick, unnecessary 3-pointers and suddenly the air seemed thin. That’s when Dariia Serednytska imposed her will on the game! A total of 3 offensive rebounds led to a putback bucket, pushing the lead to 4, and she then had the play of the game, taking a massive charge to give Rocky Hill the ball back with :38 seconds to play.  From there, Vermont Academy had to foul and 3 of 4 FTs from Addie and Sophie sealed up the first NEPSAC Championship in Rocky Hill history, 59-52!

Addie Mahar (15 points, 5 rebounds, 5 steals, 6 deflections, 1 charge taken) was named the Championship Game MVP for her clutch play in the 2nd half and her usual unwillingness to lose! After the game, Rocky Hill Girls Varsity Basketball Coach PJ Thibodeau was selected as the NEPSAC Class D “Coach of the Year”.