ADDISON COUNTY INDEPENDENT
B Section
THURSDAY, Â JANUARY Â 16, Â 2014
KARL LINDHOLM
SPORTS
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Panther  women  unplug  Chargers
Does  Kansas connect  to  Boston  – through  Cameroon? Editor’s  note:  Independent  sports  FROXPQLVW .DUO /LQGKROP LV ÂżOLQJ his  reports  this  year  from  Yaounde,  Cameroon,  West  Africa.  Are  the  Boston  Celtics  trying  to  lose  games  on  purpose? Well,  not  exactly.  It’s  clear  the  Celtics’  effort  on  the  ÀRRU LQ JDPHV LV DGPLUDEOH EXW WKH team  is  not  com- petitive  with  the  best  in  the  league.  That’s  OK.  Los- ing  is  good,  some  say.  The  Celt- ics  thus  position  themselves  for  the  upcoming  draft  of  amateur  players  (and  international  players)  in  late  June,  a  draft  consid- ered  especially  rich  in  the  depth  and  quality  of  talent  this  year.  Some  argue  that  University  of  Kansas  freshman  Andrew  Wiggins  is  the  best  young  prospect  since  LeB- ron  James.  Kentucky’s  Julius  Ran- dle  and  Jabari  Parker  of  Duke,  also  freshmen,  are  believed  to  be  future  NBA  stars.  Another  freshman  from  Kansas,  however,  may  be  the  best  prospect  of  all  —  and  he  is  playing  in  only  his  third  year  of  organized  basketball! Joel  Embiid  (em-ÂBEED)  is  the  7-Âfoot,  250-Âpound  son  of  Thomas  and  Christina  Embiid,  the  brother  of  Arthur  and  Muriel,  of  Yaounde,  Cameroon,  this  capital  city  of  1.7  PLOOLRQ LQ ZKLFK , ÂżQG P\VHOI WKLV year.  (PELLG LV KDUGO\ D UHÂżQHG WDOHQW DW this  point  —  and  it’s  not  inconceiv- able  that  he  will  remain  at  Kansas  to  further  improve  his  game.  When  asked  his  plans,  he  smiles  and  replies  that  he  will  be  at  Kansas  “all  four  years,â€?  but  few  believe  that.  His  po- tential  seems  unlimited.   He  could  go  as  high  as  one  or  two  this  spring. Embiid  played  only  a  little  pick- up  basketball  growing  up  in  Cam- eroon  —  he  “dabbled,â€?  as  he  put  it.  His  sports  were  volleyball,  playing  RQ D WHDP IRU ÂżYH \HDUV DQG VRF- cer,  where  he  was  a  forward.   “I  was  good  for  headers,â€?  he  said.  “My  dad  wanted  me  to  be  a  professional  vol- leyball  player.â€? His  parents  were  athletes,  his  fa- ther  a  professional  team  handball  player,  who  also  played  volleyball  and  soccer,  and  his  mother  a  compet- (See  Lindholm,  Page  3B)
ALSO IN THIS SECTION:
Middlebury  back  at  full  strength By  ANDY  KIRKALDY MIDDLEBURY  —  A  Middle- bury  College  women’s  basketball  WHDP ZLWK D OLQHXS ÂżQDOO\ ORRNLQJ more  like  what  the  Panthers  hoped  for  surged  to  open  Tues- “In the day’s  second  second half  on  the  way  to  a  65- half Colby58  victory  Sawyer over  visiting  didn’t lose Colby-ÂSaw- the game, yer. we won it The  game  ... Nothing marked  only  the  second  came game  this  particularly season  that  easy to last  season’s  us, but leading  re- we stayed bounder,  se- nior  forward  focused and Katie  Pett,  we hung and  second- in there, l e a d i n g  and we scorer  and  rebounded r e b o u n d e r,  the ball, Scarlett  Kirk,  had  taken  the  and that Ă€RRU WRJHWK- cures a lot er.  of things.â€? Pett  went  — Panther down  with  a  coach shoulder  in- Noreen Pecsok jury  on  Dec.  DQG PLVVHG ÂżYH JDPHV EHIRUH returning  for  12  minutes  in  the  Panthers’  70-Â44  loss  vs.  undefeat- ed  NESCAC  rival  Tufts  on  Sun- day.  She  played  17  minutes  and  contributed  nine  boards  and  eight  points  on  Tuesday. .LUN PLVVHG WKH ÂżUVW VHPHVWHU PANTHER  SENIOR  SARAH  Marcus  scored  a  team-Âhigh  15  points  to  help  Middlebury  beat  Colby-ÂSawyer  while  helping  the  Panther  wom- 65-Â58  Tuesday  night. (See  Hoops,  Page  2B) Independent  photo/Trent  Campbell
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Sports BRIEFS Tiger  girls’  hockey  rallies  past  Stowe  for  big  D-ÂII  win STOWE  —  The  Middlebury  Union  High  School  girls’  hockey  team  rallied  for  a  key  Division  II  road  win  on  Monday,  3-Â2  at  Stowe. The  Tigers  trailed  the  Raiders,  2-Â1,  in  the  third,  but  goals  by  Timi  Carone  and  Molly  Wetmore  gave  the  Tigers  the  victory.  CareyAnne  Howlett  notched  the  other  score,  and  goalie  Baily  Ryan  made  six  saves  for  MUHS,  which  improved  to  8-Â3.  The  Raiders,  fourth  place  in  D-ÂII,  fell  to  5-Â6  despite  54  saves  by  goalie  Danielle  Mayo. The  Tigers  as  of  Wednesday  morning  were  in  second  place  in  the  league  according  to  the  Vermont  Principals’  Association  quality  points  standings,  just  behind  Burr  &  Burton  (9-Â1-Â1)  and  just  ahead  of  1RUWKÂżHOG 7KH 7LJHUVÂś HDU- ly-Âseason  D-ÂI  wins  are  helping  them  in  the  standings. Â
MUHS  boys  nip  host  Slaters  in  overtime,  54-Â53 FAIR  HAVEN  —  The  Middlebury  Union  High  School  boys’  basketball  team  edged  host  Fair  Haven  in  over- time  on  Monday,  54-Â53.  The  Slaters’  Alex  Fontaine  forced  OT  with  a  three-Âpointer  to  beat  the  fourth-Âquarter  buzzer,  but  the  Tigers  came  out  on  top  of  a  seesaw  over- time. )RQWDLQH ÂżQLVKHG ZLWK D JDPH high  21,  and  Cameron  Hughes  chipped  in  with  14  for  Fair  Haven,  which  dropped  to  3-Â4  heading  into  a  Friday  home  game  with  Vergennes. Oakley  Gordon  (16)  and  Bobby  Ritter  (14)  sparked  the  Tiger  offense.  08+6 KDV QRZ ZRQ IRXU RI ÂżYH games  after  an  0-Â2  start  to  climb  over  .500  at  4-Â3.  The  Tigers  face  an  unde- feated  Burr  &  Burton  team  at  home  on  Saturday  at  12:30  p.m.
ScoreBOARD HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Hockey 1/13  MUHS  Girls  vs.  Stowe   ...................  3-Â2 Boys’ Basketball 1/13  MUHS  vs.  Fair  Haven   .......  54-Â53  (OT) Girls’ Basketball 1/13  OV  vs.  Windsor   ..........................  61-Â42 COLLEGE SPORTS Men’s Basketball 1/12  Midd.  vs.  Tufts   ...........................  80-Â66 1/14  Midd.  vs.  Lyndon   .......................  81-Â69 Women’s Basketball 1/12  Tufts  vs.  Midd.   ...........................  70-Â44 1/14  Midd.  vs.  Colby-ÂSawyer  ..............  65-Â58
Schedule
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Hockey 1/22  MUHS  Girls  at  Woodstock   ....5:30  p.m. 1/22  MUHS  Boys  at  Harwood   ...........  6  p.m. 1/24  Brattleboro  at  MUHS  Girls   ...  4:45  p.m. 1/24  Burlington  at  MUHS  Boys   .........  7  p.m. Boys’ Basketball 1/16  OV  at  Twin  Valley   .....................  7  p.m. 1/17  VUHS  at  Fair  Haven   .................  7  p.m. 1/18  Burr&Burton  at  MUHS   .......  12:30  p.m. 1/18  OV  at  Mill  River   ....................  2:30  p.m. 1/21  Mt.  Abe  at  VUHS   ......................  7  p.m. 1/21  MUHS  at  Milton   .........................7  p.m. 1/21  Green  Mt.  at  OV   .......................  7  p.m. 1/24  OV  at  Leland  &  Gray   ................  7  p.m. 1/24  Missisquoi  at  Mt.  Abe   ................  7  p.m. 1/24  VUHS  at  Milton   .........................  7  p.m. 1/24  MUHS  at  St.  Albans   .............  7:30  p.m. Girls’ Basketball 1/16  Mt.  Anthony  at  OV   ....................  7  p.m. 1/17  Missisquoi  at  VUHS   .............  5:30  p.m. 0W 0DQV¿HOG DW 0W $EH  ...........  7  p.m. 1/18  MUHS  at  Colchester   ............  1:45  p.m. 1/18  OV  at  Fair  Haven   .................  2:30  p.m. 1/20  Harwood  at  VUHS   ....................  7  p.m. 1/20  Brattleboro  at  OV   ......................  7  p.m. 1/20  Mt.  Abe  at  S.  Burlington   ............  7  p.m. 1/22  Mt.  Abe  at  Missisquoi   ................  7  p.m. 1/22  Milton  at  MUHS   ........................  7  p.m.
(See  Schedule,  Page  3B)
PANTHER  JUNIOR  CHARLOTTE  Dewey  swings  into  a  shot  during  Tuesday’s  match  against  Amherst.  Dewey  won  and  helped  the  women  to  an  8-Â1  victory.
Middlebury  squash  teams  win  in  new  digs PANTHER  FRESHMAN  WYATT  French  waits  for  the  ball  to  bounce  off  the  back  wall  during  the  Panthers’  match  against  Amherst  Tuesday.  The  Middlebury  men  won,  8-Â1. Independent  photos/Trent  Campbell
MIDDLEBURY  —  The  Middle- bury  College  men’s  and  women’s  squash  teams  both  boosted  their  re- cords  on  Tuesday  with  victories  at  home. The  Middlebury  men’s  squash  team  improved  to  5-Â3  on  the  year  with  an  8-Â1  win  over  No.  22  Amherst Â
LQ WKH 3DQWKHUVÂś ÂżQDO KRPH PDWFK RI the  season.  The  19th-Âranked  Panthers  swept  matches  2-Â9  with  six  of  the  wins  coming  in  three  games.  Andrew  Ca- dienhead,  Will  Moore,  Wyatt  French,  Harrison  Croll  and  Ben  Krant  were  (See  Squash  courts,  Page  4B)