-The spring sports season in Vermont got started last week with pitchers and catchers reporting on March 17 for softball and baseball, and Unified basketball teams beginning full practices.
This week, team practices began around Vermont for baseball, softball, lacrosse, tennis, track and field, and Ultimate disc.
It will be a couple of weeks before the outdoor spring sports get going, so Unified basketball will be the first to begin competition. Twin Valley will travel to Bennington to face Mount Anthony on April 1 and will host Brattleboro on April 7, while Brattleboro will open its season at home against Springfield on April 3.
Unified basketball, which is run through Special Olympics Vermont, is an all gender-inclusive program that pairs athletes who may have disabilities with partners who do not have disabilities. At any given time, there are three athletes on the floor with two partners. According to Vermont rules, the partners are not allowed to shoot the ball, leaving all the scoring opportunities for the athletes.
Brattleboro, the defending state champion, had an outstanding 2024 season. The Bears went 11-0 on the way to defeating Lyndon, 41-38, in the championship game to give BUHS its second state Unified basketball title, and its first since 2017.
Bears head coach Tyler Boone says he is excited about this season. Nearly all of last year's team is returning and, having had a taste of what it is like to be state champions, they would love to do it again.
It won't be easy. The quality of play in Unified basketball in Vermont keeps improving, and the teams the Bears had to beat in the Southern Division to get to the finals - Springfield, Middlebury, and Burr & Burton - will do their best to spoil Brattleboro's chance to repeat.
"I don't think anyone will be coming out of southern Vermont undefeated this year," Boone said in an email to The Commons. "However, we return six of our top seven scorers from last year and I feel we have improved from last year, especially on the defensive end."
Boone said the end goal for the Bears is the same every year - win a championship - "though that can be said of every varsity team in every sport every year. This year, I know as defending state champions, we will get the best of each team we face, so we have to be ready for that. I hope we will be!"
Boone always does a good job keeping every player involved in every game. No one gets left out, which makes for a team that is motivated and together. Along with good defense, and a productive offense, that is what has made BUHS Unified basketball one of the top programs in Vermont since the sport was introduced in the mid-2010s.
Twin Valley will be playing its second season of Unified basketball this year, and the Wildcats hope to improve upon last season's 1-5-1 record.
Last year was a learning experience for everyone, and with a roster that was filled with eighth- and ninth-graders, it was a season for finding what it takes to be competitive. We'll see if the lessons carry over into this season for the Wildcats.
North, South all-star teams split VBCA games
• The annual feast of Vermont high school basketball, the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association's (VBCA) Senior All-Star games, took place at Windsor High School on March 22 with the South teams winning two of the day's four games.
In the girls' Division III-IV game, the North team won. 56-47. Bellows Falls forward Laura Kamel scored six points. She also participated in the three-point shooting contest at halftime, which was won by Windsor's Sophia Rockwood.
Other local players on the Division III-IV South team included BF forward Nola Sciacca, Leland & Gray guards Abigail Emerson and Samantha Morse, and Twin Valley's Alanna Bevilacqua.
The South took the boys' Division III-IV game, 82-81. Eli Allbee and Carson Clark of Bellows Falls, Caleb Merrow of Green Mountain, and Cody Hescock of Leland & Gray were on the South's roster for this game. The girls' Division I-II game was also won by the South, 65-62.
The final game of the day saw the North win the boys' Division I-II game, 106-86. John Satterfield and Oscar Korson of Brattleboro were on the South team in this game.
Croutworst, Nystom, Oyer honored by VBCA
• Three of the best guards in southern Vermont - Brattleboro's Reese Croutworst, Abby Nystrom of Bellows Falls, and Kate Oyer of Twin Valley were all selected to the Vermont Basketball Coaches Association's Outstanding Underclasswomen teams.
As a reflection of how many outstanding players there are in Vermont, the VBCA this year replaced their "Dream Dozen" teams - the top 12 non-senior boys and girls in the state- with four teams of eight players.
Croutworst, a junior, was an easy choice in Division I. She has been a varsity starter since eighth-grade and excels at every aspect of the game. Nystrom, a sophomore, improved over her ninth-grade season and helped the Terriers win a share of first place in the Southern Vermont League's C Division. Like Croutworst, Oyer, a ninth-grader, also started playing varsity ball as an eighth-grader and helped Twin Valley go from two wins last season to seven wins this season.
Bears fill up state boys' hockey all-star team
• The Vermont high school boys" hockey all-league honors were released last week, and there were plenty of Brattleboro players on the Division II teams.
On the first team are senior Evan Wright at forward and senior Rowan Lonergan at defenseman. Freshman goaltender Senji Kimura was named to the second team, while senior forwards Alex Dick and Andy Cay received honorable mention.
The Bears went 14-7-1 this season and advanced to the Division II semifinals, where they lost to Harwood. This quintet of Bears had a lot to do with getting that far into the postseason.
Wright finished the season with 104 career goals, while Lonergan anchored the defense while also setting a BUHS record for most goals and assists by defenseman. Kimura's debut season was a success with three shutout wins and six wins where he gave up just one goal, while Cay and Dick helped generate plenty of offense in their supporting roles.
BHA 10U team wins another tournament
• Fresh off of capturing the the Greater Springfield (Mass.) League championship, the Brattleboro Hockey Association (BHA) 10U South team won another big tournament over the St. Patrick's Day weekend by beating the Woodstock Jr. Wasps, 6-2, in the championship game of the 2025 Pot O'Gold Invitational Tournament at Union Arena in Woodstock.
This tournament featured top youth hockey teams from Vermont, New Hampshire, and upstate New York, and the BHA kids - with just 11 players on the roster - were unfazed by the prospect of again taking on teams from bigger programs with deeper rosters.
The 10U South team finished the regular season with a 19-3 record, and now have two tournament championships to their credit. Nice going!
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 10 of the winter/spring season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on March 20 saw Full Monty move into a tie with Renegades (both 32-18) for first place, followed by Slo Movers (30-20), Charlie's Angels and Double Trouble (both 28-22), Sandbaggers and Wayne's World (both 27-23), Niners (26-24), and Let 'Em Roll (17-42).
Pat Bentrup had the women's high handicap game (233), and Annie Sherman had the high handicap series (646). Kevin Napaver had the men's high handicap game (277) and series (703), while Full Monty had the high team handicap game (874) and series (2,482).
Napaver once again had the men's high scratch series (703) with games of 257, 232, and 214, while Robert Rigby had a 648 series with games of 239 and 193. Rich Pietro had 571 series with games of 203 and 201, Gary Montgomery had a 534 series with 215 game, and Fred Ashworth had a 518 series with a 194 game. Jerry Dunham had a 217 game, and Milt Sherman had a 205 game.
Carol Gloski had the women's high scratch series (481) and game (182). Bentrup had a 166 game.
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.