This past week's brutal cold and snow made hash of the high school sports schedule, with several postponements due to the weather.
However, the Brattleboro boys' and girls' ice hockey teams did their part to heat things up with an exciting doubleheader on Jan. 3 at Withington Rink.
• The Brattleboro boys started the doubleheader with a come-from-behind 5-4 win over the North Country Falcons.
This game was back-and-forth all the way. Four times when the Falcons scored to take a lead, the Colonels responded with a goal to tie the game as Nathan Powers, Mason Foard, Kam Pelkey, and Jasper Reed all found the back of the net.
Gabriel Heiden got the game-winner with 4:19 left in the third period, set up by Ryan Gerard and Foard. Gavin Howard had a pair of assists, and Anthony Polumba, Heiden, Mason and Nathan Powers, and Miles Hiler all were credited with an assist each.
Mitchell Gonyaw scored twice for the Falcons, and Brad Perron and Jordan Cote also scored. Colonels goaltender Sam Griffith was tested by North Country's high-octane offense, but the sophomore managed to come away with the win.
On Jan. 6, the Colonel boys traveled to St. Johnsbury and lost, 3-0. They are now 3-4-1 for the season.
• The Brattleboro girls played the nightcap against the U-32 Raiders, and needed overtime to pull out a 5-4 victory.
Jamie Mahoney got the game-winning goal, her second of the night, to topple the Raiders. It came during a Colonels power play with 2:45 left in the first overtime period.
Brattleboro led 1-0 after the first period, and survived a flurry of U-32 goals to take a 4-3 lead into the third period before the Raiders tied the game to force OT.
Cece Curtin scored three goals for the Raiders, who came back from a 4-3 deficit to force overtime. Renee Roberts also scored for U-32.
The Colonel girls traveled to Woodstock on Jan. 6 and lost, 6-3. They ended the week with a 2-3 record.
Girls' basketball
• After the starting the season winning three of their first five games, Brattleboro has lost three games in a row, albeit against three Division I powerhouses - Champlain Valley, South Burlington, and St. Johnsbury.
Rachel Rooney led Brattleboro with 11 points and five rebounds in the 54-36 home loss to St. Johnsbury on Jan. 2. Hailey Derosia contributed eight points and seven rebounds.
The Colonels needed a big effort to break their slump, and they got it on Jan. 5 when they beat Hartford, 49-42, at the BUHS gym.
It was the reserves who provided the spark as Lauren Sargent (seven points), Nicole Norcia (5), Julie Hendricks (4), and Mya McAuliffe (4) woke up a Colonel team that was held scoreless for the first four minutes of the game.
It's a measure of coach Paul Freed's trust in this foursome, which also pulled down a combined 16 rebounds, that they logged significant playing time in the fourth quarter.
Hartford started out hot, and turned the Colonels' aggressiveness on defense against them by drawing 10 trips to the free throw line in the first half, and making their free throws, on the way to 27-23 lead at the half.
Bratteboro then started the second half with a 10-0 run to take control of the game for good. Lauren McKinney (eight points), Rooney (nine points), and Megyn Ayotte keyed the run, and Derosia got two of her six assists for the game during that outburst.
The total team effort improved the Colonels' record to 4-4, and is a good sign that, despite their lack of varsity experience, these players are growing up fast.
• Bellows Falls is off to a 5-1 start, but their first six games have been all against Division IV schools.
The Terriers' fifth win came on Jan. 3, when they crushed Black River in Ludlow, 72-20. Halle Dickerson and Jasmine Boucher each scored 16 points for BF, Brigid Hodsden added 14 points, and Madison Streeter pulled down 12 rebounds.
• Leland & Gray has seen the least amount of action so far this season, with just three games in December. The 1-2 Rebels are going to face a very full schedule for the rest of this month and February.
• Twin Valley is having a rough start. A 51-37 home loss to Springfield on Jan. 3 dropped the Wildcats to 1-4.
Gabriella Wardwell and Jessica Carniglia each scored 14 points for the Cosmos. Tayler Courchesne led the Wildcats with 15 points and four rebounds.
Boys' basketball
• Brattleboro lost its sixth game in a row with a 71-29 loss at St. Johnsbury on Jan. 2.
Antonio Carlisle led the Hilltoppers with 24 points, while Rian Hayman-Jones added 12 points. St. Johnsbury led 41-16 at the half. Kyle Derosia was the Colonels' top scorer with eight points.
• Between the holiday break and bad weather, Bellows Falls ended up with a two-week layoff between games.
The Terriers started the new year against their cross-river rivals Fall Mountain in Langdon, N.H., on Jan. 3 and got pummeled, 72-23. BF is now 1-3.
• Leland & Gray stayed busy through the holiday playing in a tournament at Keene State College, but the result was three losses to New Hampshire schools over three days to enter the new year with a 1-5 record.
On Dec. 27, the Rebels got ripped by ConVal, 58-22. Wilton-Lyndeborough beat the Rebels, 54-42 on Dec. 28, and Sunapee rolled to a 57-30 win on Dec. 29.
• Twin Valley is dealing with a long layoff after getting swept in the Green Mountain Holiday tournament before the holiday break. They entered the new year at 1-3.
Senior bowling roundup
• The Brattleboro Senior Bowling League started its winter season last week with Team 10 and Team 2 (both 5-0) tied for first. Team 7 and Team 4 (both 4-1) are tied for second place. Team 6 (3-2) is in third, followed by Team 5 (2-3), Team 8 and Team 3 (both 1-4), and Team 9, Team 1, and Team 11 (all 0-5).
Arlene Blum had the women's high handicap game (248) and series (639), while Eric Brown had the men's high handicap game (243) and Gordon Evans had the high handicap series (654). Team 8 had the high team handicap game (868) and Team 7 the high handicap series (2,452).
Five men rolled 500-plus series: Charles Marchant (507), Warren Corriveau Sr. (515), Marty Adams (545), and Wayne Randall (504), and Jerry Dunham (564). Adams (216) and Dunham (212) were the only bowlers with 200-plus games.