The regular season is over for the Brattleboro ice hockey teams and the area girls' basketball teams. Now, it's playoff time.
Girls' basketball
• Brattleboro closed out the regular season with a 47-45 road win over Burr & Burton on Feb. 22. Good defense by the Colonels in the fourth quarter forced multiple turnovers, and clutch free throw shooting also made a difference.
Hailey Derosia filled up the stat sheet with 15 points, nine rebounds, five assists, and eight steals to lead Brattleboro. Nicole Norcia (seven points, three steals) and Alyssa Scherlin (four points, 12 rebounds) also helped in the victory.
The Colonels' 10-10 record got them the 11th seed in Division I. They will head to Bennington to face a familiar foe in the first-round - sixth seeded Mount Anthony (13-7) - on Feb. 28. The Patriots won both games against Brattleboro in the regular season.
• Bellows Falls finished with a 16-4 record, good enough for the seventh-seed in Division II. They lost a 57-42 road game to Hartford on Feb. 19, and clobbered Twin Valley, 79-23, at Holland Gymnasium on Feb. 22.
The Terriers will host No. 10 Lamoille (9-11) in a first-round game on Feb. 28.
• The loss to BF was the fifth loss in a row for Twin Valley. They finished with a 5-14 record and are the 13th seed in Division III. The Wildcats were on the road for their first-round game at No. 4 Thetford (14-6) on Feb. 27.
• Leland & Gray has been off since Feb. 14. They head into the Division III girls' playoffs with a 9-11 record and the No. 9 seed. They headed north to face eight-seeded Winooski (8-12) in a first-round game on Feb. 27.
Ice hockey
• The Brattleboro girls' hockey team finished 10-9-1 in Division II and picked up the No. 5 seed in the playoffs.
As a result, they get a first-round bye and advance in the quarterfinals, where they will go on the road to take on fourth-seeded Woodstock (14-5-1) on March 3 at 5:30 p.m. Woodstock won both regular season games against the Colonels.
The Colonels finished up the regular season with a 5-0 win at home over Hartford on Feb. 21, and a 5-2 loss at South Burlington on Feb. 24.
• The Brattleboro boys' hockey team ended up with a 7-12-1 record and the No. 8 seed in the Division II playoffs. They'll host a first-round game against No. 9 Missisquoi (7-12-1) on Feb. 28 at 7:15 p.m. at Withington Rink. Brattleboro beat Missisquoi, 2-1, in a Jan. 10 regular season home game.
The Colonels ended the regular season with a 4-3 loss at Hartford on Feb. 21 and a 5-3 home win over St. Johnsbury on Feb. 24.
Against Hartford, Mason Foard had a pair of goals, and Miles Hiler added another. Gabe Heiden, Anthony Palomba, and Kamron Pelkey were credited with assists.
Gavin Howard got two goals in the St. Johnsbury win. Palomba, Powers and Foard also scored for the Colonels. Pelkey, Alejandro Cornman, Heiden, Powers, and Foard were all credited with assists and Colonels goalie Austin Wood made 26 saves.
Boys' basketball
• It took until the next-to-last week of the season, but Brattleboro finally won a game on Feb. 19 with a 49-40 victory over Mill River at the BUHS gym.
The Colonels followed that up with a second win, a 65-37 road victory over Woodstock on Feb. 21. While Rutland beat the Colonels, 59-39, at the BUHS gym on Feb. 23, the good news heading into the final week is that the Colonels will be spared a winless season.
• Bellows Falls might be pulling itself together at the right time, with a pair of wins last week. On Feb. 20, the Terriers beat Green Mountain in overtime, 68-62, then traveled to Townshend on Feb. 23 to beat Leland & Gray, 61-44.
Against GM, Shane Clark led the Terriers with 26 points, nine rebounds, and five steals. BF blew a 12-point lead, but rallied to get the win over the Chieftains. Ryan Kelly scored 14 points for BF, and Griff Waryas was the hero in OT by sinking three of his four free throws.
In the game against Leland & Gray, BF was in control all the way as Clark led the way with 22 points and six rebounds, while Kelly had 12 points and six rebounds.
• Twin Valley is starting to get it together for a playoff run with three straight wins.
On Feb. 19, the Wildcats beat Leland & Gray in Townshend, 46-40. The next night, they pulled out a 55-42 win on the road against West Rutland. The Wildcats ended the week with a 10-8 record after rolling over Green Mountain, 63-29.
• Leland & Gray beat Arlington, 48-45, on Feb. 20, but losses to Bellows Falls and Twin Valley spoiled a three-game homestand for the Rebels. They finished the week at 6-13.
Freitas-Eagan defends freestyle title
• Brattleboro's Isaac Freitas-Eagan successfully defended his state freestyle title on Feb. 23 in the opening session of the Vermont State Nordic Championships in Craftsbury.
Despite marginal course conditions, Freitas-Eagan, a senior, finished first in 12 minutes, 37 seconds. Teammates Evan Koch (15th), Sam Freitas-Eagan (20th), and Galen Fletcher (23rd) completed the scoring for the Colonel boys.
In the 4 x 1.5K relays, the boys' team of Koch, Sam Freitas-Eagan, Fletcher, and Isaac Freitas-Eagan held their own to put the Colonels in fourth place in the team standings, behind Mount Mansfield, Middlebury, and U-32.
Sarah Gallagher led the Colonel girls with an eighth place finish in the individual race, followed by teammates Isabella Thurber (15th), Liz Morse (16th), Elery Loggia (22nd), and Bella and Annie Takacs (24th and 29th, respectively).
Despite a pile-up at the start of the girls' relay race, Isabella Thurber went from last to third, and her teammates Loggia, Morse, and Gallagher held that position the rest of the way. The Colonel girls are third in the team standings behind Mount Mansfield and U-32.
The championships were scheduled to conclude on Feb. 26 with the classic individual and freestyle races at Rikert Nordic Center in Middlebury.
Junior Olympics winners
• The Brattleboro Junior Olympics were held during the winter vacation week at Living Memorial Park.
Winners of the skating races were: Gavin Robinson (kindergarten and under), Emma Day (grades 1-2, girls), Colby Robinson (grades 1-2, boys), Bethany Traudt (grades 3-4, girls), and Nico Leach and Gabe Alexander (grades 3-4, boys).
Downhill ski racing winners were: Kaylen Richards (kindergarten and under, girls), Liam Doak (kindergarten and under, boys), Spencer Jones (grades 1-2, boys), Molly Storm (grades 1-2, girls), Nico Conathan-Leach (grades 3-4, boys), Anna-Bell Brooks (grades 3-4, girls), Ben Berg (grades 5-6 boys), Brandon Weeks (grades 5-6 , boys snowboarding), Gretchen Stromberg (grades 5-6, girls), Emma Brooks (grades 7 and up, girls), and Devin Speno (Grades 7 and up, boys).
Grammar School skiers do well in regional Bill Koch League event
• Young cross country skiers from all over New England and New York recently gathered in Weston, Mass., on Feb. 17 and 18 for the Bill Koch League (BKL) Nordic Ski Festival. This year, the Putney Ski Club sent 12 skiers to the Festival.
The BKL is a youth ski league established in honor of Bill Koch, the first American to win an Olympic medal in nordic skiing, a silver in the 1976 Winter Olympics. Koch who, grew up in Guilford, and skied for The Putney School and the Putney Ski Club, continues to be an inspiration for local cross country ski racers.
For several decades the Putney Ski Club's BKL was based out of The Grammar School, where cross-country skiing is a deeply rooted part of the culture. All students in grades K-8 ski during the week at school, and The Grammar School has 10 students who participate in the afterschool BKL program. Three of those racers accompanied the club to this year's regional festival and contributed to four of the 10 Putney Ski Club podiums.
On Feb. 17, second-grader Henry Sterner and younger brother Charlie, a kindergartener, both from Westminster, teamed with Matt Northcott of Walpole, N.H., to take first place in the grade 1-2 skate relay race.
Sadie Bell, a sixth-grader from Putney, and teammate Caroline Tarmy of Putney won the grade 5-6 girls skate relay. Bell also competed in an individual skate sprint on Feb. 17, where she came in third.
The next day, racing continued with Henry Sterner coming in first in the grade 1-2 individual classic sprint and Bell earning second place in the grade 5-6 individual classic sprint.
Putney Ski Club's BKL racers are coached by Grammar School alumnus Zach Caldwell (1984), and his wife, Amy, of Putney.
Mini-golf event benefits Prouty Center
• The fourth annual Par for the Cause - an indoor mini-golf classic to benefit the Winston Prouty Center for Child and Family Development - will be held on Saturday, March 3, from 6 to 9 p.m., at their campus at the former Austine School in Brattleboro. All are invited for an evening of friendly competition and delicious food.
Light dinner fare will be served by the Guilford Country Store & Café and a cash bar will be served by Hazel. Donated goods and services by local businesses will be raffled off. Tickets to the Par for the Cause are $25 and can be purchased at www.winstonprouty.org or at the door.
Families are invited to play on the following day, Sunday, March 4, from 1 to 4 p.m. The cost is $5 per person for unlimited rounds of mini-golf with the gorgeous view of Mount Wantastiquet. The afternoon includes free popcorn and the Winston Prouty Early Learning Center will have a snack sale to raise funds for their gardens.
Sponsored by the Trust Company of Vermont, all proceeds from the weekend will support Winston Prouty's services for young children and families across Windham County. For more information, call 802-257-7852.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 8 saw some big changes in the standings of the winter edition of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League.
Team 4 had a 5-0 week, while Team 10 went 1-4 to leave both teams tied for first place at 32-8. Team 2 also got hot with a 5-0 week, and vaulted into a three-way tie for second at 25-15, along with Team 8 and Team 5. Team 7 (24-16) is now in third place, followed by Team 3 (17-23), Team 9 (14-26), Team 6 (13-27), and Team 11 (11-23) and Team 1 (10-30).
Ann Wyman had the women's high handicap game (276) and series (788), while Wayne Randall had the men's high handicap game (247) and Paul Gilbert had the high handicap series (670). Team 7 had the high team handicap game (897) and series (2,569).
In scratch scoring, Robert Rigby (612) and Jerry Dunham (613) led the men with 600-plus series. Rigby had games of 201 and 221, while Dunham had a 229 and 237.
The 500-plus club was again crowded last week. Josie Rigby (567) led the way for the women. She also had a 215 scratch game. Joining her were Pamela Greenblott (504) and Nancy Dazell (508).
For the men, Marty Adams (506), Peter Gilbert (502), Charles Marchant (518), Gary Montgomery (536), Peter Cross (509), Warren Corriveau Sr. (532), Fred Ashworth (535), and Wayne Randall (564) all made the 500-club. Men with 200-plus scratch games included Corriveau, (212), Randall (219), and Marchant (204).