The bad news is that the Brattleboro Colonels girls' hockey team got steamrolled by the Rutland Red Raiders, 11-0, last Saturday night in the home opener at Withington Rink.
The good news is that it was only the second game of the season and the Colonels won't have to face Rutland again.
After the Colonels lost their opener, 9-1, at Rutland on Dec. 3, they saw their next two games postponed by bad weather. This meant that Brattleboro's second game of the season would be against the Raiders.
Emma Mazzariello and Meghan Hamilton scored four goals for Rutland. Caitlyn Laird added three more for the Raiders. Mazzariello assisted on three of the goals.
Goalie Carolyn Laird had little difficultly notching a shutout as Rutland took a 5-0 lead after one period, and scored four more goals in the second.
“Rutland is a great team,” said Colonels coach Linda Burke, who returned to the bench this season along with assistant coach Linda Strom to sub for Kraig LaPorte, who had to step aside as head coach due to schedule changes with his job as a Vermont State Police lieutenant.
“They have lots of depth and they took advantage of every mistake we made,” Burke said.
That was definitely true. Rutland scored in every way imaginable. Burke said that Colonels goalie Keagan Jameson “saw way too many pucks.”
“We're working in a lot of young players, and a team like Rutland is too high a level of competition to break someone in,” Burke said. “Some of the girls had to play double shifts on the ice, and it was starting to show late. But we kept trying right to the end, and that was encouraging.”
The 0-2 Colonels are scheduled to face Burr & Burton next in Manchester on Dec. 17.
Boys' basketball
• It's been a long time since Brattleboro and Leland & Gray faced each other in varsity basketball, but considering how close the two schools are to one another, it's a great opportunity for the Colonels to play a nearby opponent and avoid a long bus ride.
And even though Brattleboro is a Division I school and Leland & Gray is Division III, the teams played a reasonably competitive game in Townshend on Dec. 8 that ended with a 50-42 win for the Colonels.
Senior forward Lynden Bunker scored a game-high 17 points to lead Brattleboro. Dylan DeJordy added seven points, while Josh Hanson and Chayse Cunniff each chipped in six.
The Colonels led 28-21 at the half, and pushed that lead up to 11 in the third quarter before the Rebels rallied to get within four points in the final quarter.
Ryan Borgesen and Corey Nystrom led the Rebels with 11 and 10 points, respectively. The Rebels lost their home opener with Hartford, 57-36, on Dec. 5.
Unfortunately, when it was time to play a couple of bigger schools, the Colonels could not duplicate their success. The Colonels went to Essex last Thursday and lost 57-49.
Eli DiGrande scored a game-high 19 points for Essex, which led by as many 12 points before the Colonels battled back to enjoy a brief lead.
Brattleboro's Tanner Freeman was the catalyst, hitting a couple of 3-pointers on the way to finishing with 16 points. But Essex rallied to win, thanks to clutch free-throw shooting and control of the glass in the final quarter.
Brattleboro played host to Rice on Saturday, and the result was an 81-41 romp for the Green Knights. Ferran Lopez connected on nine 3-pointers and shot 10-of-15 from the floor to score a game-high 30 points for Rice. Ben Shungu added 16 points, and Arnold Vainqueur scored 10 as Rice built up a 36-17 lead at halftime.
Dylan DeJordy led the 1-3 Colonels with 10 points.
• Twin Valley christened their new gymnasium in Whitingham on Dec. 8 with a 76-25 blowout of Black River. DJ Lazelle had 12 points and 16 rebounds for the Wildcats, while Sam Molner scored a team-high 14 points. Justin Hicks and Brett Swanson each added 10.
Girls' basketball
• The Twin Valley girls also got off to a good start in their new gym on Dec. 8 with a 50-14 demolition of Black River.
It was a balanced attack on offense as Teya Johnson (15 points) and Colton Butler and Kirra Courchesne (11 points each) led the Wildcats. Kendell Howe grabbed 11 rebounds, while Howe and Courchesne combined for 11 steals.
The Wildcats followed that up with another home win as Butler scored a career-high 16 points in a 56-33 victory last Friday over Mid Vermont Christian.
Twin Valley played excellent defense in taking a 19-5 lead at the half, before the offense came around in the second half. The Wildcats spread the scoring around as Courchesne (eight points, five rebounds), Teya Johnson (six points, four assists), Howe (six points, five rebounds), Christina Moore (six points, seven rebounds), Taylor Courchesne and Karlee Walkowiak (seven points each) all pitched in.
• Brattleboro narrowly lost to St. Johnsbury, 31-27, in the Colonels's season opener on Friday night at BUHS. Jessica Poulin and Jordan Cady scored six points each, and Taylor Belknap pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Hilltoppers.
A 3-pointer from Devin Millerick got Brattleboro to within one point late in the final quarter, but St. Johnsbury converted enough free-throws at the end to prevail.
Maddie Derosia led the Colonels with six points, six rebounds, and four steals, while Meghan Powell had eight rebounds and three points, and Millerick added five points.
• Jenna Eaton scored 23 points as Mount St. Joseph defeated Bellows Falls, 50-36, last Saturday at Holland Gymnasium. MSJ led 19-15 at the half - and poured it on in the second half.
Chelsea Wilder led the 0-1 Terriers with 14 points.
•Leland & Gray is off to an 0-3 start. Windsor beat the Rebels, 62-43, last Thursday for their third-straight road loss.
Jordan Gouger and Rachel Borgesen led the Rebels with 13 and 11 points, respectively.
Nordic skiing
• Brattleboro opened its season with a strong performance at a freestyle sprint relay at Mount Top in Chittenden last Saturday. The event had pairs of skiers doing four laps, alternating each, on a 1.25-kilometer course.
Spencer Loggia and Declan King finished seventh to lead the Brattleboro boys. Isaac Freitas-Eagan and Tyler Clement came in 13th, and Dan Burdo-Phelan Muller ended up in 16th.
The tandems of Alicia Loyola and Isabella Thurber (11th place) and Evy Williams and Catey Yost (12th place) led the Brattleboro girls.
Brattleboro's Jonah Koch and Josh Meachen took second in the JV boys race, while Joseph Meima teamed up with a Middlebury skier to finish fourth overall.
Brattleboro's Neveah Beauchamp and Elizabeth Morse were the winners in the middle school race.
Storm cancellations
• The Nor'easter that came and lingered over us for far too long last week raised havoc with the local sports schedule. Here's what got postponed due all the snow, sleet, and freezing rain:
• Twin Valley girls' basketball at Sharon on Dec. 9 was postponed.
• Brattleboro girls' basketball against Hartford at the BUHS gym on Dec. 9 got postponed to Jan. 24, 2015.
• Leland & Gray girls' basketball at Arlington on Dec. 9 was postponed.
• Brattleboro girls' hockey against Harwood at Withington Rink was postponed to Monday, Dec. 29, at 2:45 p.m.
Take the bus to Mount Snow
• The Brattleboro School Endowment is organizing a bus service to Mount Snow in West Dover that will run on Saturday, Dec. 20 and 27, and Jan. 3, 2015, and Sunday, Dec. 28 and Jan. 4. Riders can board at either Academy School at 8 a.m. or else at the West Dummerston covered bridge on Route 30 at 8:15.
The Mount Snow Express should arrive at Sundance Lodge by 9 a.m. It departs at 4 p.m. and will stop first at the bridge at 4.30, and then at Academy School by 4:45. The cost for the bus is $5 each way, or $10 round-trip.
According to its president, Jill Stahl Tyler, the Brattleboro School Endowment hopes to continue to run the bus the rest of the season, but might change days, departure times, or departure locations, depending on demand. While the bus is open to all ages, she said children under middle school age must be accompanied by adult. The driver will leave on schedule and will not be responsible for finding someone at the end of the day.
The Brattleboro School Endowment was formed four years ago to help the town's three elementary schools pay for “extras” such as field trips, classroom guests, and winter sports programs. For more information, visit www.brattleboroschoolendowment.org.
BUHS ski reunion
• Past and present members of the Brattleboro Union High School Nordic ski team are invited to a reunion on Friday, Dec. 26, at 10 a.m., on the BOC Ski Trails at Brattleboro Country Club.
The group will ski from 10 a.m. to noon for a special trail fee of $5. That will be followed up with hot chocolate, coffee, and snacks.
Indoor soccer begins
• The Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department offers another session of coed adult indoor soccer on Tuesdays from 7 to 9 p.m. through Feb. 3, 2015. Participants of all abilities ages 18 and up are welcome.
Pick-up games will take place in the Gibson-Aiken Center Gym, 207 Main St. There are no teams or officials. Indoor balls and pinnies will be provided. The cost is $25 for residents and $50 for non-residents, with a drop-in fee of $10.
Players should wear shin guards and clean, appropriate footwear. For more information, call 802-254-5808.