-The boys' basketball season has barely begun in Vermont, but the Twin Valley Wildcats already look like a team that will be playing in March for a Division IV state championship in Barre.
After losing their season opener to Twinfield/Cabot on Dec. 13 in the Bob Abrahamson Tip-Off Classic in Proctor, the Wildcats went on to win four games in a row to close out a hectic first week schedule before the holiday break that featured five road games in eight nights.
Three of those wins came against Division III opponents. Twin Valley defeated Green Mountain and Bellows Falls to win the Green Mountain Holiday Tournament in Chester, then beat Springfield on Dec. 21.
After their 58-52 win against Green Mountain on Dec. 17, the Wildcats took on Bellows Falls in the GM tourney's championship game on Dec. 19. Twin Valley was unfazed by the bigger and more physical Terriers and came away with a 59-52 win.
Only four players scored for the Wildcats against BF, but three of those four filled up the scorebook. Brayden Brown led the way with 32 points, 10 rebounds, and seven assists. Niko Gerding scored 12 points, and Brian Sullivan had eight points and 12 rebounds. Steven Oyer didn't score, but he had 10 assists along with three blocked shots on defense.
Eli Allbee led the Terriers with 11 points, while Carson Clark and Will Hallock scored 10 points each. It was the second straight year that Twin Valley defeated Bellows Falls for the GM tourney title.
In the Springfield victory, the Wildcats needed a buzzer-beater from Brown to eke out a 58-57 road win over the Cosmos. Brown finished with a game-high 22 points.
The 4-1 Wildcats will play their home opener against Poultney on Jan. 3. In the first game between the two teams on Dec. 14 at the Bob A Tourney, Twin Valley was a 63-39 winner.
Bellows Falls defeated Green Mountain, 58-39, on Dec. 21, and beat Windsor, 58-51, on Dec. 27 to even their record at 2-2. The Terriers were led by Jaden Bazin with 11 points; Allbee added 10 points.
Girls' basketball
• Brattleboro looked good in winning the Leland & Gray Holiday Tournament to start their season, but the Bears fell back to earth on Dec. 19 at the BUHS gym with a 41-27 loss to the two-time defending Division I champion Champlain Valley Redhawks.
However, compared to previous meetings against the Redhawks, the Bears played well against CVU. Reese Croutworst led the way with 12 points, Abigail Henry added nine points and Naima Harris had five points and 12 rebounds.
"We definitely held our heads high after the game," wrote Bears coach Karen Henry in an email to The Commons. CVU was tough, but they are beatable. They are aggressive, quick, and have talent at every position, but we matched up nicely. We did choose to switch to a zone defense in the second half. Their motion offense in the first half was causing us to have to switch screens and created mismatches we didn't like and the zone held them to 14 second half points. We also missed several layups and floaters that would have changed the game entirely.
"After the game, I went into the locker room and the first thing one of my players asked was 'When can we play them again?' As a coach, it's what I dream of hearing. These girls are hungry and feel ready to play anyone."
It didn't get any easier for the Bears on Dec. 21 as St. Johnsbury got a 46-30 victory at the BUHS gym. Croutworst had 18 points, seven steals, and four assists, while Harris added eight points and seven rebounds. Now 2-2, the Bears will travel to St. Johnsbury on Jan. 2 for another game against the Hilltoppers.
• Under new coach Jamie Brown, Twin Valley is off to a fast start in Division IV. On Dec. 16 in Whitingham, ninth-grader Kate Oyer scored 21 points as the Wildcats downed the Proctor Phantoms, 52-20. Seniors Alanna Bevilacqua and Bianca Place added nine and eight points, respectively, in the victory. The 2-0 Wildcats will be back in action on Jan. 4 with a road game against White River Valley.
• Sophia Rockwood had 12 points and seven rebounds to lead Windsor to a 48-34 win over Bellows Falls on Dec. 20. Abby Nystrom led BF with 11 points. The Terriers then came back from their holiday break with a 65-19 win over Leland & Gray on Dec. 27 in Westminster to improve their record to 2-1.
• Leland & Gray is still looking for a win. A narrow 31-29 loss at Arlington on Dec. 17, combined with the loss to BF, left the Rebels with a 0-4 record.
Boys' basketball
• Brattleboro had a pair of lopsided losses to St. Johnsbury that were sandwiched around wins over Mount Greylock (57-36 on Dec. 16) and Windsor (59-55 on Dec. 19).
The second loss to St. Johnsbury, 65-41 at the BUHS gym on Dec. 21, saw four Hilltoppers score in double figures, led by Rex Hauser's 20 points. Hauser, one of the top players in the state, took over the game in the third quarter. He scored 12 points, including three dunks, to give St. Johnsbury a 57-28 lead heading into the final quarter. Oscar Korson had 12 points for the Bears, all them coming off three-pointers, and Owen Dascomb added 10 points.
After losing 80-45 to Greenfield, Massachusetts, on Dec. 27 at the BUHS gym, the Bears ended the year with a 2-3 record. Brattleboro will start the new year on Jan. 4 when they host Rutland.
• Leland & Gray is still searching for its first win of the season. The Rebels opened with a 48-35 home loss to Arlington on Dec. 16, then lost to Long Trail, 64-40, in Dorset on Dec. 20. Back at home on Dec. 23, the Rebels were defeated 65-42 by Springfield, followed by a 61-44 loss to Grace Christian School on Dec. 27 to fall to 0-4.
Ice hockey
• The Brattleboro boys scored a pair of shorthanded goals and killed off six penalties in a 4-1 win over Rutland on Dec. 18. Evan Wright scored three goals, including one of the shorthanded goals in the first period, to lead the Bears. Andy Cay got the other shorthanded goal in the third period.
The penalty kill was not as effective against Hartford on Dec. 21 at Withington Rink as the Hurricanes scored a pair of shorthanded goals and rallied for a 5-4 win. Wright had a pair of goals; Cay and Carter Mialkowski also scored. Bears goaltender Senji Kimura made 11 saves.
In the Bouthillier Tournament in Hartford on Dec. 27, the Bears battled Burr & Burton to a 4-4 overtime tie. Wright had a pair of goals for Brattleboro, Mialkowski and Rowan Lonergan also scored and Kimura made 24 saves. Though the game was officially declared a tie, Burr & Burton won a shootout after the overtime to determine which team would advance in the tourney. The Bears finished the week with a 1-2-1 record.
• The Brattleboro girls started the season with a new head coach, Alyssa Leonard, but have struggled in the first few games. The Bears lost their home opener to Middlebury, 10-0, on Dec. 18. They played a more competitive game in the Mariotti Tournament in Hartford on Dec. 21, but lost to Woodstock, 3-2. The Bears went into the holiday break with an 11-0 road loss to Missisquoi on Dec. 23 to fall to 0-4.
Bowling
• Brattleboro has started the season with a second place finish in a match against Fair Haven and Windsor on Dec. 21 at Brattleboro Bowl. The Slaters defeated the Bears in the finals, 2-1.
A week later at Brattleboro Bowl, these three teams met again and Fair Haven again came out on top, with Windsor finishing second and Brattleboro taking third.
Fair Haven and Brattleboro will face each other again on Jan. 4 at Rutland Bowlerama.
Nordic skiing
• Brattleboro had its first big meet on Dec. 23 at Woodstock Nordic Center, and Nico Conathan-Leach finished first in the boys' skate race in 13 minutes, 21 seconds. Middlebury won the boys' meet with 23 points, thanks to having four top-10 finishers.
Senior bowling roundup
• The final week of the fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Dec. 26 saw Number 3 (57-23) claim the league title. Pin Heads (45-35) finished in second place, just a game ahead of third place Lucky Strikes (44-36). Spare Change (41-39), finished fourth, followed by Jerry's Team and Slo Movers (both 39-41), Candi Men (37-43),Wunderkind (35.5-35.5), Rick's Picks (32.5-47.5), and Aging Teens (30-50).
Pat Bentrup had the women's high handicap game (260) and series (676), while Rich Pietro had the men's high handicap game (236) and series (680). Wunderkind had the high team handicap game (863) and series (2,498).
Keven Napaver had the men's high scratch series (636) with games of 225, 221, and 190, while Robert Rigby had a 628 series with games of 214, 208, and 206, and Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 620 series with games of 228, 210, and 182. Milt Sherman had a 572 series with games of 205 and 195, Piero had a 559 series with games of 215 and 184, and Peter Deyo had a 544 series with games of 188 and 181. Notable games for the men included Wayne Montgomery (182), Wayne Randall (181), and Dick Cooke (180).
Carol Gloski had the women's high scratch series (512), while Cooke had the high scratch game (191). Gloski also had a 177 game, while Bentrup rolled a 188.
Randolph T. Holhut , deputy editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at [email protected].
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.