Feb 18 2016 B section

Page 1

ADDISON COUNTY INDEPENDENT

B Section

THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 18, 2016

KARL LINDHOLM

SPORTS

ALSO IN THIS SECTION:

• School News • Legal Notices

• Classifieds • Real Estate

Before screens: Life in the good old days Our young athletes learn more about sports, themselves, and life from playing pond hockey, pick-up basketball or soccer than they ever could from being on an organized team with refs, coaches, uniforms and whistles. — Comment by a friend on Facebook I saw Bernie interviewed on TV recently in his childhood neighborhood in Brooklyn, talking about his earliest years. He described playing ball in the streets with a “spaldeen,” and “leaving the house at 9 and coming home at 5” exhausted from all that physical activity. He added that it was all very “democratic” play. I recall that kind of freedom myself, growing up in a neighborhood in Lewiston, Maine, a very different setting. When I was a kid, after supper, in the nice weather, we were outside playing games till the streetlights came on. “Kick the Can” was a favorite — and also a wonderful game of our own design played after dark (with parental permission), called “jailbreak,” which had us hiding in the leaves and long grass at the base of the wall that separated the yard next door from the Russell Street Hill. The idea was to avoid the flashlight/ searchlight and leap over the wall, yell “Jail Break!” and it was “Ollie Ollie Enfree” again and all those captured were set free. Really fun. Baseball was king when I was a kid and we had varieties of baseball games for any number of players from one to a dozen or more. Many summer days I climbed on my bike with my glove slung over the handlebars, and rode to the big vacant lot up by the college (Bates) and played ball all day long. In the winter, in Maine, when instructed to “go outside and play,” we pulled on our bulky winter outerclothes, grabbed our skates and sleds and headed for a nearby icy patch or hill. Our alternatives to boredom were (See Lindholm, Page 2B)

ScoreBOARD HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Girls’ Hockey 2/15 MUHS vs. Northfield.........................6-1 Boys’ Hockey 2/17 MUHS at Mt. Mansfield...................Late Boys’ Basketball D-I Playoffs 2/16 #2 Rice vs. #15 MUHS.................68-19 D-II Playoffs 2/16 #6 Enosburg vs. #11 VUHS..........54-22 2/16 #2 Lyndon vs. #15 OV..................60-42 2/16 #1 U-32 vs. #16 Mt. Abe...............67-40 Girls’ Basketball 2/15 MUHS vs. Mt. Abe........................39-37 2/15 Colchester vs. VUHS....................55-37 2/16 Fair Haven vs. OV........................32-21 COLLEGE SPORTS Women’s Basketball 2/16 Midd. vs. Colby-Sawyer................46-37

EAGLE SOPHOMORE EMMA Carter puts up a shot between two Middlebury defenders Monday night. Carter scored 17 points in Middlebury’s 39-37 win. Independent photos/Trent Campbell

Tiger girls block Mount Abraham Late swat boosts MUHS over .500 By ANDY KIRKALDY MIDDLEBURY — For the first time in six years and only the third time in 11 years, this winter the Middlebury Union High School girls’ basketball team will finish the regular season with at least a .500 record — and this time the Tigers will do it with three players who won one game two seasons ago and seven of the athletes on 2015’s three-win team. The Tigers clinched that feat by edging visiting rival Mount Abraham, 39-37, in a Monday game not decided until senior MUHS forward Hannah Buttolph recorded her third

block of the night. That block came with seconds to go on hard-charging sophomore Eagle forward and leading scorer Emma Carter. Buttolph controlled the ball after tipping Carter’s layup attempt into the air to seal the victory. “I saw her coming down, and I was just planted, and I hoped that I would go straight up, and I hoped it would stop her. I hoped it would be enough,” said Buttolph, who also contributed all six of her points in the late going. “Thankfully it was.” The senior co-captain also spoke about the Tigers’ 10-9 record head-

MIDDLEBURY UNION HIGH School junior Lily Smith defends against Eagle sophomore Olivia Young during Monday’s game in Middlebury.

ing into their final game of the year at Colchester on Thursday. Buttolph, one of only two Tiger seniors along with co-captain Jesse Trudeau, said it bodes well for her seven teammates who will return. “It’s just really exciting, and I think next year it’s going to really help them to keep going and really improve,” Buttolph said. “We’ve im-

Middlebury men’s hoop to host quarterfinal MIDDLEBURY — The Middlebury College men’s basketball team lost two games on the road to the first- and second-place teams in NESCAC this past weekend to finish the regular season at 14-10, 6-4 in league play. They earned the No. 4 seed for the league tournament and will host No. 5 Wesleyan (18-6, 5-5 NESCAC) on Saturday at 2 p.m.

Last Saturday, host first-place Trinity (18-6, 9-1) defeated the Panthers, 97-86. The game was close early on, but Trinity outscored the Panthers by 17-10 down the first-half stretch to lead by 10 at the break, 43-33. The Panthers scored the first hoop of the second half, but the Bantams answered immediately, and Middlebury was never able to get the stops needed to cut the lead to single digits again.

Adisa Majors led the Panthers with 15 points on seven-for-12 shooting from the floor and added a team-best eight rebounds. Bryan Jones made five of six shots to tie a season high with 14 points, while Matt St. Amour scored 12 points. Connor Huff contributed with seven points and six boards. Trinity’s Jaquann Starks led all players with 20 points, while Shay

Ajayi and Ogundeka each netted 16. On Friday, Amherst, at 19-4, 8-2 NESCAC, defeated the Panthers, 8370. Amherst’s Jeff Racy went six-forsix from three-point range to finish with a team-high 18 points to help spark the Purple & White. Johnny McCarthy added 17 points, while Connor Green finished with 15 points. (See Panthers, Page 3B)

Beauchamp wrestles to 100th victory

Schedule

HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Girls’ Hockey 2/18 ..............................Pairings Announced Boys’ Hockey 2/18 ..............................Pairings Announced Girls’ Basketball 2/18 Mt. Abe at VUHS.........................7 p.m. 2/18 MUHS at North Country...............7 p.m. 2/19 OV at Windsor.............................7 p.m. 2/22 ..............................Pairings Announced Wrestling 2/26&27....................State Meet at Mill River Gymnastics 2/20 State Meet at Essex....................2 p.m. COLLEGE SPORTS Men’s Hockey 2/20 Hamilton at Midd..........................4 p.m. 2/21 Amherst at Midd...........................4 p.m. 2/27 Quarterfinal.....................................TBD Women’s Hockey 2/19 Midd. at Williams..........................7 p.m 2/20 Williams at Midd. ........................7 p.m. 2/27 Quarterfinal.....................................TBD Women’s Basketball 2/20 Midd. at Tufts (NESCAC Quarterfinal) ............................................................2 p.m. 2/27 & 28.......................NESCAC Final Four Men’s Basketball 2/20 Wesleyan at Midd. (NESCAC Quarterfinal).......................................................2 p.m. 2/27 & 28.......................NESCAC Final Four Spectators are advised to consult school websites for the latest schedule updates.

proved a lot this year, and I think it’s going to help us keep going.” Meanwhile, the Eagles had also hoped to reach .500 during the regular season with a win on Monday and then at Vergennes on Thursday. Instead, they dropped to 8-11. That record includes an earlier home loss to the Tigers, as well as a 7-5 mark after a 1-6 start. Coach

MOUNT ABRAHAM UNION High School freshman Kevin Pearsall wins his 170-pound match against CVU during last weekend’s NVAC championship meet at St. Johnsbury Academy. The Eagles finished in third place. Courtesy photo by Kira Murray

Eagle grapplers third at NVAC meet

ST. JOHNSBURY — The Mount Abraham Union High School wrestling team finished third this past weekend at the NVAC championship meet, which was decided in head-to-head dual-meet fashion at St. Johnsbury Academy.

The Eagles edged Middlebury, 36-35, in their first round matchup before falling to eventual champion Champlain Valley in the semifinal round. CVU defeated Essex in the final. Mount Abe then edged host St.

Johnsbury, 39-36, in the consolation final to earn the third-place trophy. The Eagles finished the season with a 16-10 record in dual meets. Teams are off until Feb. 26 and 27, when Mill River will host the state championship competition.

ST. JOHNSBURY — Middlebury Union High School senior Nick Beauchamp became the latest local wrestler to reach the coveted 100-win plateau this winter, accomplishing the feat during the Northern Vermont Athletic Conference dual-meet championship on Saturday at BEAUCHAMP St. Johnsbury. Beauchamp, who competes at 220 pounds, picked up the 100th victory vs. Vergennes, and his record entering this week stood at 100-61 for his career and 37-6 this season. Beauchamp’s record this winter includes a dramatic tournament victory at the Tigers’ own Hubie Wagner Invitational in late December. The Tigers and the other local wrestling teams are off until Feb. 26 and 27, when Mill River will host the state tournament.

Connie LaRose said the Eagles might have been wound too tight in the first quarter when they committed an uncharacteristic nine turnovers. “We made too many mistakes early on, played scared,” LaRose said. “We’ve been playing so well.” In that first quarter, the Eagles also had no answer for Tiger sophomore (See Basketball, Page 3B)

Area boys’ basketball teams out of playoffs ADDISON COUNTY — The local high school boys’ basketball season came to an end on Tuesday, when all four area teams came up short in firstround playoff games. TIGERS In Division I, three-time defending champion Rice, the No. 2 seed, coasted past No. 15. Middlebury, 68-19. The Green BASKETBALL Knights outscored Mid- Wrap-Up dlebury by 24-2 in the second quarter and led at the half, 43-6. Kam Farris scored 20 points to lead the 18-3 Green Knights. No Tiger scored more than four points as MUHS, which had closed the regular season strong with three wins in four outings under first-year coach Kyle Lussier, finished 6-14. OTTERS Despite falling behind by 12-3 in its D-II first-round game, No. 15 Otter Valley played the closest game among the local squads, falling to No. 2 Lyndon 60-42. Luka Grubic led three Vikings in double figures with 16 points as Lyndon improved to 15-6. Josh Letourneau scored 11 points to lead the Otters as they finished at 4-17, a record that included wins over MUHS and (See Wrap, Page 3B)


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