The bowling program at Brattleboro Union High School hosted its first home match of the season at Brattleboro Bowl on Jan. 28.
Bowling at BUHS started as a club sport in 2005, and it became an exhibition sport in 2012. For the 2016-17 season, Brattleboro is joined by Enosburg, Essex, Fair Haven, Hartford, Lyndon, Oxbow, Randolph, Springfield, South Burlington, South Royalton, and Windsor in fielding co-ed varsity teams sanctioned by the Vermont Principals' Association.
Brattleboro played host to teams from Springfield, Windsor, and Fair Haven and the Colonels finished third overall behind Fair Haven and Springfield.
Matches in Vermont follow a dual format, with standard ten-pin scoring with each player bowling in a regular order, and the Baker System, which is mainly used in four-team competition.
Five-member teams start out bowling two games each under the ten-pin rules, with teams seeded for the second half of the match based on the total amount of pins in the two games.
Under the Baker System in the second half of the match, the No. 1 bowler completes the first and sixth frames, the No. 2 bowler completes the second and seventh frames, the No. 3 bowler completes the third and eighth frames, the No. 4 bowler completes the fourth and ninth frames, and the No. 5 bowler completes the fifth and 10th frames.
Jeremy Lackey was the top individual bowler for Brattleboro with scores of 195 and 124 in his two games.
In the Baker semifinals, the Colonels won the best-of-three competition with Windsor to clinch third. Brattleboro won the first game, 154-113, and took the third and deciding game, 154-146.
There is still another month to the bowling season, with the state individual championships scheduled for Feb. 25, while the state team championships are set for March 4.
Girls' basketball
• It's been a struggle for high school basketball teams this winter to try and stay fresh when games get cancelled due to bad weather and, suddenly, you've gone two weeks between games.
It was Leland & Gray's turn to find itself in that position. The Rebel girls hosted Twin Valley on Jan. 26, their first game since a 44-30 loss at West Rutland on Jan. 11. But instead of looking rusty, the Rebels started the game with a 20-0 run and coasted from there to a 56-23 win over the Wildcats.
The Rebels had a little extra incentive in this game. It was the fourth annual “Hoops for Hope” game, a benefit for the Alexis “Lexy” Giallella Scholarship fund. Giallella died of cancer at age 15 in 2013.
Since her death, all the proceeds from ticket sales and raffles at each season's Twin Valley-Leland & Gray boys' and girls' games in the LGUHS gym have gone to the fund. Last season's games raised more than $2,000, and the Rebel teams were on pace to top that figure this season.
Senior forward Rachel Borgesen was the catalyst for the Rebels, scoring 13 points and keying a great defensive effort.
Twin Valley coach Buddy Hayford had no answer for the Rebels' offensive explosion in the first quarter. “Leland & Gray was simply bigger, faster, and stronger than we were,” he said.
While Twin Valley made it a 29-10 game at the half, whatever hope the Wildcats had of getting back into the game was dashed as Leland & Gray went on a 16-2 run to open the third quarter.
“Buddy throws a lot of stuff at you, and you've got to be prepared for it,” said Rebels coach Terry Merrow. “Tonight, our leaders led, and we didn't have a letdown.”
Merrow said he was pleased he could give everyone significant playing time in the game. All but one player scored for the 5-4 Rebels. Emma Densmore had 12 points, Mariah Hazard scored 9, and Hannah Buffum and Kelsi Bostrom each added 7. Tayler Courchesne led the 2-7 Wildcats with 7 points and Kendell Howe added 6 points.
Both teams have a lot of games still to play. By the time they meet again on Feb. 15 in Whitingham, the postseason fates of the Rebels and the Wildcats will likely be determined.
• Brattleboro's losing streak is up to four games, after a 50-49 loss to Drury at the BUHS gym on Jan. 26, and a 40-32 loss at Otter Valley on Jan. 28.
In the Drury game, the Colonels rallied from an 11-point halftime deficit, only to fall just short at the end. Shenise Taliaferro (10 points, 8 rebounds, 3 steals) and Devin Millerick (9 points, 3 rebounds, 7 steals) led the charge in the fourth quarter. The Colonels finished the week at 4-7.
• Green Mountain opened with an 18-2 run and Bellows Falls never recovered as the Chieftains cruised to a 53-40 win. The Chieftains were up 34-14 at halftime. The Terriers fell to 5-4 on the season.
Boys' basketball
• Eli Lombardi has been getting all the attention as Brattleboro's top scorer, but teams overlook the Colonels' second leading scorer, Ian Fulton-Black, at their own peril.
Fulton-Black scored a game-high 24 points to lead the Colonels to a 71-51 victory over Hartford on Jan. 25 at the BUHS gym. He made 6 of his first 8 shots in the first quarter, but Lombardi would get into the act in the second quarter as he made 3 three-pointers on the way to a 20-point night.
Taylor Patno, Tony Martinez, and Tanner Bell also contributed to the Colonels' big offensive output. Martinez finished with 10 points.
While the Colonels lost to Rutland, 76-50, on Jan. 27, they finished the week at 8-4 and clinched a spot in the Division I playoffs.
• A week after beating Bellows Falls, 70-59, on the road, Windsor made a season series sweep with a 68-34 rout of the Terriers at home on Jan. 26. Windsor took a 22-4 lead after the first quarter, thanks to 6 three-pointers, and kept up the pressure the rest of the way.
Shane Clark finished with 12 points for BF, while Cam Joy added 7. Ben Meagher led Windsor with 12 and Duncan Frazer chipped in 10. BF is now 5-5 on the season.
• Twin Valley rolled over host Leland & Gray, 60-30, on Jan. 27 in the second game of the Hoops for Hope fundraiser for the Alexis Giallella Scholarship.
Skyler Boyd led the 7-5 Wildcats with 19 points and 13 rebounds, while Brett Swanson added 17 points. The Rebels fell to 2-8 with the loss.
Earlier in the week, Proctor beat Twin Valley, 42-34.
Ice hockey
• Sam Griffith made 17 saves to pick up his first varsity shutout in goal as the Brattleboro boys defeated Saint Johnsbury, 4-0, in a road game on Jan. 28.
Kam Pelkey, Miles Hiler, Dan McMahon and Jacob Bailey were the goal scorers for the Colonels, with Declan Lonergan, Mason Powers and Jasper Reed each credited with an assist. The victory ended a five-game losing streak for the 2-9-1 Colonels.
• The Brattleboro girls lost, 2-1, at Stowe on Jan. 25 to drop their record to 4-7-1.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 3 of the winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League saw a new team take over first place. Team 6 (11-4) is now a game ahead of Team 10 and Team 2, who are now tied for second at 10-5. Team 7 and Team 4 are tied for third at 9-6, followed by Team 1 (8-7), Team 3 (6-9), Team 8 and Team 9 (both 5-10), and Team 5 (2-13).
Pat Cutler had the women's high handicap game (228) and series (672), while David McElroy had the men's high handicap game (255) and series (711). Team 8 had the high team handicap game (889), while Team 9 had the high handicap series (2,563).
Nine bowlers rolled a 500-plus series: Wayne Randall (545), Jon Peters (513), Jerry Dunham (592), Doug Switzer (553), Peter Gilbert (505), Peter Cross (532), Marty Adams (593), Fred Ashworth (521), and Warren Corriveau Sr. (588). Four bowlers had 200-plus games: Switzer (206, 203), Dunham (202, 200), Adams (204, 201) and Corriveau (235).