ADDISON COUNTY INDEPENDENT
B Section
THURSDAY, Â FEBRUARY Â 4, Â 2016
ANDY KIRKALDY
Forecast  mixed  for  Boston  pro  sports  teams The  untimely,  but  given  the  circum- stances,  to  be  honest,  not  unexpected  end  of  the  New  England  Patriots’  sea- son  a  couple  weeks  back  makes  this  a  good  time  to  look  at  the  four  major- sports  Massachusetts  pro  teams. So,  yes,  you  New  York  fans  can  move  along,  or  stick  around  and  do  some  threat  assessment  of  the  compe- tition  —  or  offer  some  snark,  if  you  prefer.  I  will  say  the  Yankees  can  be  good  if  most  of  the  following  don’t  hap- pen:  Teixeira,  Rodriguez  and  Beltran  don’t  all  fall  off  the  cliff  at  the  same  time,  Ellsbury  doesn’t  miss  six  to  eight  weeks  with  a  hangnail,  Tanaka’s  elbow  doesn’t  spontane- ously  combust,  and  Sabathia’s  arm  doesn’t  sim- ply  fall  off.  They’ll  be  good  defen- VLYHO\ LQ WKH LQÂżHOG DQG LI WKH\ OHDG after  six  innings  they  will  win  at  least  90  percent  of  the  time.  All  other  teams  also  have  questions  marks,  so  why  not? Speaking  of  question  marks,  the  Red  Sox.  Plenty  of  experts  seem  to  feel  that  adding  David  Price  to  the  top  of  the  rotation,  Craig  Kimbrel  and  Carson  Smith  to  the  back  end  of  the  bullpen,  and  lefty-Âmashing  Chris  Young  to  the  RXWÂżHOG PL[ KDV PDGH WKH 6R[ WKH ID- vorite  in  the  AL  East.  Well,  maybe.  Like  the  Yankees,  the  Sox  have  a  rotation  full  of  possi- bilities.  Rick  Porcello  stunk  for  three  months  last  year,  and  then  pitched  well  for  six  weeks.  Ditto  for  Joe  Kelly.  Eduardo  Rodriguez  won  10  games  with  decent  other  numbers  as  a  rookie  last  year.  Did  I  mention  he  was  a  rookie  last  year?  Clay  Buchholz  could  miss  eight  to  10  weeks  with  a  hangnail.  After  setting  the  world  on  ¿UH IRU WZR PRQWKV The  young  catching  looks  good.  Xander  Bogaerts  and  Pedroia  up  the  PLGGOH RI WKH LQÂżHOG DUH DV JRRG D combo  as  anybody.  Mookie  Betts  in  ULJKW ÂżHOG LV D VWDU LQ WKH PDNLQJ %XW WKH UHVW RI WKH RXWÂżHOG 5XVQH\ (See  Kirkaldy,  Page  3B)
SPORTS
ALSO IN THIS SECTION:
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Eagles  put  it  together  against  Milton Balanced  effort,  defense  key  win By  ANDY  KIRKALDY BRISTOL  —  It  probably  wouldn’t  be  fair  to  call  Tuesday’s  visit  from  Mil- ton  a  must-Âwin  game  for  the  Mount  Abraham  Union  High  School  girls’  basketball  team.  But  with  the  regular  season  winding  down,  it  was  close  to  one.  The  Eagles  have  been  playing  better  after  a  brutal  early  schedule,  but  entering  the  game  with  a  4-Â10  mark  that  includes  three  recent  losses  to  Division  I  teams,  it  was  important  to  show  they  could  de- feat  a  competent,  “Our biggest but  not  great,  6-Â7  thing tonight D-ÂII  Yellowjack- et  team. was we And  the  Ea- got a lot of gles  did,  53-Â37,  other people with  a  solid  effort  involved. in  which  they  never  trailed.  Everybody They  forced  16  was ÂżUVW KDOI WXUQ- scoring. overs  with  their  That’s what trademark  2-Â2-Â1  we need.â€? press,  10  of  those  — Jesse in  the  second  McKean quarter,  during  which  they  took  charge  by  outscoring  Milton,  19-Â6,  to  take  a  16-Âpoint  halftime  lead. ,Q WKDW SLYRWDO VHFRQG SHULRG ÂżYH Eagles  scored,  two  of  them  substitutes,  and  Mount  Abe  closed  the  quarter  with  an  8-Â0  run  with  only  one  starter  on  the  ÀRRU WR WDNH D KDOIWLPH OHDG Milton  came  no  closer  than  14  points  in  the  second  half.  Senior  guard  and  co-Âcaptain  Jesse  0F.HDQ ZKR FRQWULEXWHG ÂżYH DVVLVWV and  in  the  second  quarter  became  one  of  nine  Eagles  who  scored,  pointed  to  the  team-Âwide  effort  behind  leading  scorer  Emma  Carter’s  23  points.  “Our  biggest  thing  tonight  was  we  got  a  lot  of  other  people  involved.  Ev- MOUNT  ABRAHAM  UNION  High  School  sophomore  Emma  LaRose  puts  up  a  shot  Tuesday  night  in  Bristol.  erybody  was  scoring,â€?  McKean  said.  The  Eagles  beat  Milton,  53-Â37. (See  Basektball,  Page  3B) Independent  photo/Trent  Campbell
ScoreBOARD HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Boys’ Basketball 2/1  VUHS  vs.  Missisquoi  .....................65-Â61 Girls’ Basketball 2/2  Mt.  Abe  vs.  Milton  ..........................53-Â37 2/2  OV  vs.  Windsor  ..............................53-Â44 0W 0DQVÂżHOG YV 98+6  .................44-Â33 2/2  Colchester  vs.  MUHS  ........... 49-Â48  (OT) COLLEGE SPORTS Women’s Hockey 2/2  Norwich  vs.  Midd.  ..............................3-Â2 Women’s Basketball 2/2  Keene  vs.  Midd.   ............................64-Â57 Men’s Basketball 2/2  Midd.  vs.  Keene  .............................83-Â74
Schedule
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Girls’ Hockey 2/10  MUHS  at  Rutland  ........................4  p.m. 2/13  St.  Albans  at  MUHS  ....................5  p.m. Boys’ Hockey 2/5  MUHS  at  Woodstock  ....................8  p.m. 2/9  Milton  at  MUHS  ............................7  p.m. 2/13  Harwood  at  MUHS  ......................7  p.m. Boys’ Basketball 2/5  OV  at  MSJ  ....................................7  p.m. 2/6  Milton  at  VUHS  ......................11:30  a.m. 2/6  Missisquoi  at  MUHS  ..............11:30  a.m. 2/6  St.  Albans  at  Mt.  Abe  .............12:30  p.m. 2/9  Mt.  Abe  at  Missisquoi  ....................7  p.m. 2/9  Burr  &  Burton  at  OV  ......................7  p.m. 2/9  St.  Albans  at  VUHS  ......................7  p.m. 2/9  MUHS  at  Milton  ............................7  p.m. 2/11  OV  at  Fair  Haven  ........................7  p.m. 2/12  Mt.  Abe  at  Milton  .........................7  p.m. 2/12  MUHS  at  VUHS  ..........................7  p.m. Girls’ Basketball 29 DW 6SULQJ¿HOG  ..........................7  p.m. 2/5  MUHS  at  Milton  ............................7  p.m. 2/5  North  Country  at  VUHS  ................7  p.m. 0W 0DQV¿HOG DW 0W $EH  ...............7  p.m. 2/8  Mt.  Abe  at  Missisquoi  ....................7  p.m. 2/8  VUHS  at  MUHS  ............................7  p.m. 2/9  OV  at  Hartford  ..............................7  p.m. 2/11  Colchester  at  Mt.  Abe  .................7  p.m. 2/11  Missisquoi  at  VUHS  ....................7  p.m. 2/12  Mill  River  at  OV  ...........................7  p.m. Wrestling 2/4  VUHS/MUHS  at  Mt.  Abe  ...............7  p.m. 2/6  ....... Mt.  Abe/OV/VUHS  at  MMU  Tourney 2/9  Spaulding/MMU  at  Mt.  Abe  ...........7  p.m. 2/10  CVU/Randolph  at  VUHS  .............6  p.m. 2/10  MUHS  et  al.  at  OV  .................5:30  p.m.
(See  Schedule,  Page  3B)
EAGLES  ABBY  MANSFIELD,  left,  Emma  Radler  and  Olivia  Young  make  moves  under  the  Milton  basket  during  Tuesday  night’s  game  in  Bristol.
Independent  photos/Trent  Campbell
Area  Nordic  ski  teams  compete  in  Chittenden CHITTENDEN  —  The  Middle- bury  and  Otter  Valley  union  high  school  Nordic  skiing  teams  competed  on  Tuesday  in  classic-Âstyle  races  host- ed  by  OV  at  the  Mountain  Top  Inn  in  Chittenden.  Tiger  Amelia  Ingersoll  fared  best  overall  among  the  girls,  taking  fourth.  Among  the  boys,  Tigers  Haven  Tate  and  Harlow  Punderson  produced  the  EHVW UHVXOWV ÂżQLVKLQJ IRXUWK DQG ÂżIWK respectively.  Not  all  of  the  Tigers’  top  male  skiers  competed.  Amelia  Inger- soll  (4th  place)  and  Isabel  Rosenberg  (7th)  led  the  Middlebury  girls. Emma  Cijka  led  three  OV  girls  FRPSHWLQJ E\ ÂżQLVKLQJ WK Team  results  were  not  available.  Rutland’s  Dani  Laird  won  the  girls’  race  in  11:41,  and  Burr  &  Burton’s  Scott  Mooney  prevailed  in  the  boys’  event  in  10:24.  7KH ORFDO JLUOVÂś ÂżQLVKHUV DQG WKHLU times  were:  4.  Ingersoll,  MUHS,  12:45;Íž  7.  Rosenberg,  MUHS,  13:03;Íž  9.  Morgan  Pratt,  Mount  Abraham,  (See  Nordic,  Page  2B)
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Sports BRIEFS Otter  girls  cruise;Íž  MUHS,  VUHS  fall ADDISON  COUNTY  —  In  local  girls’  basketball  play  on  Tuesday,  Ot- ter  Valley  posted  a  win,  but  Middle- bury  lost  in  overtime  on  the  road  and  Vergennes  dropped  a  home  game. Mount  Abraham  also  played  at  home;Íž  see  story  on  Page  1B.  OTTERS The  Otters  staved  off  v i s i t i n g  W i n d s o r ,  BASKETBALL 53-Â44,  in  part  be- cause  Lexi  Hedding  made  nine  of  12  fourth- TXDUWHU IUHH WKURZV WR ÂżQLVK ZLWK 11  points.  Forwards  Amy  Jones  (18  points,  14  rebounds)  and  Gab- by  Poalino  (10  points,  10  boards)  did  a  lot  of  the  heavy  lifting  as  OV  snapped  a  brief  two-Âgame  skid  and  improved  to  7-Â8.  Windsor  dropped  to  7-Â8.  TIGERS The  Tigers  forced  host  Colches- ter  (9-Â6)  into  overtime,  but  came  up  short  when  the  Lakers’  Sage  Papari- ello  hit  two  foul  shots  with  11  sec- onds  left  to  wipe  out  an  MUHS  lead  and  give  her  team  a  49-Â48  victory.  Keagan  Dunbar  scored  17  to  lead  the  7-Â8  Tigers,  and  Payton  Buxton  scored  15  points,  all  after  the  half,  to  give  MUHS  a  lift.  COMMODORES 9LVLWLQJ 0RXQW 0DQVÂżHOG PRYHG to  6-Â8  with  a  44-Â33  win  at  VUHS,  SXOOLQJ DZD\ LQ WKH ÂżQDO PLQXWHV Tamara  Aunchman  scored  12  points  to  lead  the  Commodores,  and  Sarah  Poirier-ÂThayer  chipped  in  nine  as  VUHS  fell  to  6-Â8. Â
Wrap-Up
Commodore  boys  rally  past  T-ÂBirds SWANTON  —  The  Vergennes  Union  High  School  boys’  basketball  team  picked  up  a  key  road  win  on  Monday,  65-Â61  at  Missisquoi.  The  victory  pushed  the  Commo- dores  to  8-Â9  with  three  homes  games  remaining  on  their  regular  season  schedule:  Milton  on  Saturday  at  11:30  a.m.  and  St.  Albans  and  Mid- dlebury  next  week.  They  remain  two  games  behind  St.  Albans,  which  is  undefeated  in  the  Lake  Division,  for  the  league  lead.  The  six  quality  points  for  Monday’s  road  win  vs.  a  Division  I  opponent  DOVR JLYH 98+6 D VKRW DW D ÂżUVW round  home  game  in  the  D-ÂII  play- offs,  depending  on  the  results  the  rest  of  the  way.  The  victory  was  the  &RPPRGRUHVÂś IRXUWK LQ ÂżYH RXWLQJV and  seventh  in  10  tries.  On  Monday,  VUHS  outscored  Missisquoi  by  19-Â10  in  the  fourth  quarter  to  wipe  out  the  51-Â46  lead  the  T-ÂBirds  held  after  three  periods.  Adam  Gill  scored  22  to  pace  the  Commodores,  and  Dylan  Bradford  and  Josh  Dam  chipped  in  15  points  apiece.  Richard  Walker  scored  26  for  Missisquoi,  which  dropped  to  9-Â8. Â
Wrestlers  win  at  tournament,  in  dual  meets By  ANDY  KIRKALDY WILLIAMSTOWN,  Mass.  —  Vergennes,  Mount  Abraham  and  Otter  Valley  union  high  school  wrestlers  fared  well  at  a  Satur- day  tournament  hosted  by  Mount  Greylock  Regional  High  School  in  Williamstown,  led  by  two  Com- modores  who  won  their  weight  classes,  senior  Ethan  Reardon  and  junior  Brandon  Cousino.  Reardon  won  twice  by  pin  and  then  twice  by  convincing  de- cisions,  including  by  8-Â2  over  Taconic’s  Zabion  Powell  in  the  SRXQG ÂżQDO WR HDUQ ZKDW ZDV KLV ÂżUVW HYHU WRXUQDPHQW WLWOH Cousino  improved  to  31-Â0  this  winter  at  182  pounds  with  three  YLFWRULHV DOO E\ ÂżUVW SHULRG SLQV DIWHU UHFHLYLQJ D ÂżUVW URXQG E\H Their  efforts  helped  VUHS  VFRUH SRLQWV ZLWK MXVW ÂżYH ZUHVWOHUV DQG ÂżQLVK VHYHQWK RXW RI 23  teams.  North  Providence  (R.I.)  won  with  152.  Mount  Abe  took  11th  with  63,  and  OV  was  15th  with  32  points.  7ZR ORFDO ZUHVWOHUV ÂżQLVKHG second,  OV  sophomore  Tyson  EAGLE  SOPHOMORE  BEN  Murray  was  fourth  at  126  pounds  in  a  tournament  hosted  by  Mount  Greylock  Cram  at  138  pounds  and  Mount  High  School  in  Massachusetts  last  weekend. (See  Wrestling,  Page  2B) Photo  courtesy  Nick  Mayer