WOODSTOCK — If Dennis Wood reaches his third year as head coach of the Woodstock High girls basketball team, he will have had that job longer than each of his three most immediate predecessors.
Wood took the job this season, becoming the Wasps’ fifth coach in the last seven years. Timmy MacDonnell had the role for the 2016-17 season. Jason Johnson took over for the next two years, going 1-19 in 2017-18. Steve Landon, who now coaches the boys team, had the job most recently. Woodstock again won just one game in 2019-20 and was 0-5 in last year’s pandemic-shortened season.
“I hope (Wood) is here for the long run,” Woodstock athletic director Jack Boymer said. “He was really excited at this opportunity. The program deserves and really could use a long-term coach.”
Wood is a lifelong Vermonter, playing basketball at Whitcomb High School in Bethel. He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1979 with a degree in industrial education, then returned to Bethel to work for his father’s Chevrolet dealership.
He became the boys basketball coach at Whitcomb in 1982, holding that position until he stepped down in 1994 to spend more time raising his children. When his daughter was a junior at Whitcomb, the girls basketball program was struggling — Wood estimated that they had been a combined 1-39 in the previous two years. So Wood applied for the job and got it, leading the Hornets and their future co-op with Rochester High for the next eight years.
Wood turned the program around, going to the VPA Division IV semifinals in 2015 and 2016 and compiling an overall 96-74 record. But when Whitcomb merged with South Royalton High and Chelsea High to form the White River Valley School in 2018, Wood was not offered the coaching position.
“I was off for a year, then agreed to do the middle school for a year,” Wood said. “I was going to do the JV girls at White River Valley, but they didn’t enough players last year during COVID. I was scheduled to do the JV again this year, but they still didn’t have enough players, so I applied at Woodstock for the varsity job.”
Just one other candidate applied, and Boymer, who is himself only in his second year at Woodstock, said he was impressed with Wood’s demeanor and his experience taking over programs that were in need of a fresh start.
He added that the players seem eager and excited to play for Wood.
“He brings a wealth of knowledge,” Boymer said. “He really knows how to teach the different aspects of the game fundamentally, both with Xs and Os also making it fun for the girls. He’s a well-rounded coach who has a lot of experience to draw from.”
It took Wood just one game to equal the win total from the last two years. The Wasps handily won their season opener at Mill River, 45-18, on Monday evening. They open the home portion of their schedule on Friday night against Hartford.
Sophomore Mikayla Myers led Woodstock with 16 points, senior Emma Tarleton added 10 and junior Norah Harper — who switched to basketball this year after previously playing hockey in the winter — chipped in with eight. Sophomore Hannah Watson helped lead the Wasps’ defensive effort.
“Not having won a lot of games the past few years, they have to learn how to win,” Wood said.
“But they play excellent defense and they’re working hard together, and they’re excited about the prospects this year. I think we should do well.”
Benjamin Rosenberg can be reached at brosenberg@vnews.com or 603-727-3302.