Now that the calendar has turned to March, the postseason for basketball, hockey and skiing has begun.
The regular season wrapped up for our girls' basketball teams last week, with the first round of the playoffs beginning this week.
The Brattleboro ice hockey teams will also begin their playoff odyssey this week, and the Brattleboro nordic ski team is set for its state championship races in Craftsbury and Mountain Top Resort this week.
As for boys' basketball, the regular season ends this week. Playoff pairings for the boys should be out by March 7, with first round playoff games scheduled for March 8 and 9.
Girls' basketball
• Twin Valley came on strong to finish up the season, winning seven of their last eight games to end up with a 12-8 record. On Feb. 22, the Wildcats pulled out a 37-29 win at Proctor. Rebounding was the key to this win as Sam Bernard, Abbi Molner, and Lexi Reinertson pulled down 11, 8 and 7 rebounds, respectively. Savannah Nesbitt was the high scorer with 9 points.
The Wildcats then beat up on winless Black River, 59-15, in the regular season finale last Thursday in Wilmington. Bernard led the Wildcats with 13 points, 8 rebounds and a career-high 8 steals. Molner contributed a career-high 12 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists. Kylie-blu Crawford also had 12 points, including 4 three-pointers.
Twin Valley ended up with the No. 10 seed in Division III and will travel to Townshend to face No. 7 Leland & Gray (13-7) on March 2.
• Leland & Gray goes into the first round matchup with Twin Valley well rested. The Rebels haven't played since Feb. 18, but they earned a break after a brutal four games in four nights ending to their regular season.
The Rebels and Twin Valley split their regular season series. Leland & Gray won in Wilmington, 28-23, on Dec. 13, while Twin Valley won in Townshend, 39-35, on Feb. 10.
• It has been a tough year for the Brattleboro Colonels. They closed out their season with a 41-27 loss to Rutland on Senior Night on Feb. 22, and a 60-20 win at Woodstock last Saturday.
Mariah Lesure, Erin LeBlanc, Taylor Kerylow, Ariel Kane, Kelsey Patterson and Cassie Rawson were saluted by the home fans on Senior Night, but it was Rutland's lone senior, Alyssa Moore, who stole the show with 14 points to lead the Raiders.
Patterson and Mary Richardson scored 11 points each, as the Colonels raced out to 17-1 lead after one quarter, and kept pouring it on. LeBlanc added 8 points and 8 rebounds.
The 5-15 Colonels are the No. 16 seed in the Division I tournament and travel north to face top-seeded South Burlington (17-3) on March 1.
• Bellows Falls only had six players available for last Wednesday's game against Canaan, and ended up losing, 39-19. BF finished up their season last Friday with 55-43 loss to Springfield, but Emily Dufault (19 points) and Enny Mustapha (16 points, 14 rebounds) played heroically for the shorthanded 2-18 Terriers. They will not be in the postseason.
Hockey
• Logan Robinson and Emily Wilson each scored as Brattleboro rallied from a 2-0 deficit to tie Harwood, 2-2, at Withington Rink on Feb. 21. Their regular season finale against U-32 in Montpelier was snowed out on Friday.
Brattleboro finished with a 10-7-2 record and the No. 6 seed in the Lake Division tournament. The Colonels will host No. 11 Rice (2-17-1) at Withington Rink on March 2.
• Last Wednesday, the Brattleboro boys earned a 4-4 tie with Northfield at Withington Rink. Adam Griffin had 2 goals, Andy Harris and Romello Lindsey each finished with a goal and an assist, and defenseman Philip Perkins had two assists
The Colonels closed out the regular season with a penalty-filled 9-1 home loss to U-32 on Saturday night. There were 14 total penalties in the game, nine of them against the Colonels. After Senou Lynn scored the first goal of the game for Brattleboro, things went downhill in a hurry for the 4-14-2 Colonels.
Brattleboro was seeded No. 11 in the Lake Division tournament and will travel to Manchester to face No. 6 Burr & Burton (9-10-1) on March 2.
Nordic skiing
• The Brattleboro girls completed the regular season with a victory last Wednesday in the Marble Valley League relay championship at Prospect Mountain in Woodford.
Linnea Jahn, Emma Straus and Maddi Shaw skiied the first three legs of the relay and kept the Colonels in striking distance of the Mount Anthony and Rutland skiers. Halle Lange started the anchor leg with the Colonels trailing by 30 seconds, but she quickly closed the gap and finished 10 seconds ahead of everybody else to deliver the gold to the Colonels.
The Colonels boys finished third behind Woodstock and MAU. Graham Glennon, Anthony Burdo, Austin Lester and anchor man Jacob Ellis were Brattleboro's relay team.
Boys' basketball
• Brattleboro was overpowered by Rutland, 58-49, at the BUHS last Thursday. Rutland center Alexander Snyder and power forward Andrew Borkowski each scored 16 points and dominated the Colonels inside for most of the game. Nate Forrett and Tommy Heydinger had 12 and 11 points, respectively, for Brattleboro.
The Colonels came back Saturday with a 66-40 road win at Springfield. Travis Beeman-Nesbitt led the way with 16 points. Travis Elliott-Knaggs and Soren Pelz-Walsh added 14 and 10 points, repectively, and Heydinger pulled down 11 rebounds as Brattleboro improved to 14-4.
• Twin Valley needed overtime to pick up their fourth straight win, a 50-47 road victory over West Rutland on Feb. 21. Ian Murdock had the hot hand with 22 points, including 6 three-pointers, to lead the Wildcats. Colin Lozito added 13 points and 8 assists.
Undefeated Proctor snapped the Wildcats' streak with a 36-29 win in Wilmington on Saturday. Lozito and Murdock score 8 points each as Twin Valley kept it close most of the way before the Phantoms prevailed. Twin Valley is now 8-10.
• Leland & Gray flattened Green Mountain, 81-29, on Feb. 21. The Rebels had four players in double figures, led by Colin Nystrom with 20 points. Noah Chapin and Drew Barnum each added 15 points, and Brandon Reilly chipped in 14. The Rebels equally dominant in rebounding, as Josh Fontaine and Barnum each had 13.
Fontaine had 16 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Rebels to a 60-31 win at Poultney last Thursday. Chapin led all scorers with 18, Barnum had 10 rebounds and Matt Bizon did a bit of everything with 6 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists and 7 steals.
• Bellows Falls lost to Fair Haven, 67-41, at Holland Gymnasium on Feb. 21. Jeremy Kilburn and Joe Aslin each had 9 points. The Terriers traveled to North Clarendon on Saturday and lost 67-51. Peter Falzo scored 12 points for the 3-16 Terriers.
Wrestling
• Bellows Falls wrestler Cyle Weyant won his second state championship in the state tournament in Bennington over the weekend.
Weyant was the top-seed in the 125-pound class this year, and he defeated Fair Haven's Dustin Lewis, Mount Anthony's Barry Willard and Otter Valley's Seth Harrington to win the title.
Weyant also won the state championship in 2009 and was a state finalist in 2010. He finishes his varsity career with a 138-16 record, the best in school history. He was the first BF wrestler to win two state titles, and the first BF wrestler to win 18 tournaments in one season.
Hartford High School freshman Nolan Viens, who has wrestled at the 135-pound weight class for Bellows Falls all season, also had an outstanding tournament. Viens made it all the the way to the finals before losing to Fair Haven's Seth Welch, a senior who is that school's all-time wins leaders.
Both Weyant and Viens qualified for the New England tournament that takes place Friday and Saturday in New Haven, Conn. Only the top three wrestlers in each weight class in Vermont qualify for this event.
Miscellany
• The Brattleboro Recreation & Parks Department announces that the Nelson Withington Skating Facility at Living Memorial Park will be closing for the season on Sunday, March 6, at 10:15 p.m.
• On March 10, at 7 p.m. at the Station tap room in the second floor of the base lodge, Mount Snow will host an information meeting on the upcoming “Tough Mudder” adventure race.
This eight mile race, billed as the toughest one-day event in the world, features 22 obstacles inspired by British Special Forces training. A typical Tough Mudder course features difficult terrain and lots of mud, ice, and water, with some fire and live electrical wires mixed in for good measure.
Mount Snow is expecting about 7,500 competitors for the event, which will be held on May 7. More details can be found at toughmudder.com.