Brattleboro improved to 7-1 on the season with a 54-40 win over St. Johnsbury in the BUHS gym on Friday.
The balanced offensive attack of the Colonels, led by the trio of Travis Beeman-Nesbitt, Jay Vinci and Soren Pelz-Walsh gave the Hilltoppers fits all night. When St. Johnsbury tried to double-team Beeman-Nesbitt, the result was open shots for Vinci and Pelz-Walsh.
The Colonels led by as many as 22 in the second half before St. J made things a bit more competitive in the final minutes.
Beeman-Nesbitt finished with 14 points, followed by Vinci with 13 and Pelz-Walsh with 11. Good rebounding and defense by Beeman-Nesbitt and Tommy Heydinger also helped the Colonels' cause.
It's too soon to be thinking about the playoffs, but the Colonels are now tied with Rice for second in Division I. They trail undefeated Mount Mansfield, which is the only team to have beaten the Colonels this season.
With seven seniors and five juniors, the experience of the Colonels is kicking in at this point of the season, and they appear to have the depth and balance that a playoff-bound team needs to succeed.
Girls' basketball
• The shots were falling for Brattleboro in the first half against Spaulding, but that shooting touch deserted the Colonels in the second half as the Crimson Tide pulled out a 51-43 win last Tuesday in Barre, and handed the Colonels their fourth straight loss.
Brattleboro led 28-21 at the half as McKinlie Carpenter, Alyssa Bezanson and Becca Bird filled up the scoresheet. Bezanson had 7 points in the first half, while Bird and Carpenter added 6 apiece. When that trio went cold in the second half, it opened the door for the Tide to comeback.
Arianna Harrison scored 13 points to lead the 3-4 Colonels. Mary Richardson followed with 10 points, including 8 in the final quarter.
• Leland & Gray used a balanced attack as they pounded Woodstock, 62-35, last Monday. Ashley Goddard led the Rebels with 21 points, 6 rebounds, 4 steals, 2 assists and 2 blocked shots. Alex Morrow added 16 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 2 blocks.
Haley Buffum had 12 points and 9 rebounds, while Callie Ginter scored 7 points, with 4 assists and 4 steals. In all, seven Rebels registered points against the Wasps.
• The Bellows Falls Terriers ground out a 31-26 win over Sharon Academy last Monday at Holland Gymnasium. Emily Dufault led BF with 11 points, and Corina Stack and Enny Mustapha each added 6 for the 4-3 Terriers.
• Twin Valley blasted Black River, 50-11, in Wilmington last Monday. The remarkable thing about that score was that Twin Valley was trailing in this game at the start, until its full court press defense kicked in and the Wildcats went on a 16-0 run to end the first half to put the game away.
The Twin Valley defense forced 28 turnovers as Savannah Nesbitt and Sammy Cunningham had 8 and 7 steals, respectively. Lexi Reinertson led the Wildcats with 10 points and 4 steals, while Abbi Molner added 9 points and Nesbitt chipped in 8.
Boys' basketball
• Bellows Falls kept rolling along with a 69-39 demolition of Green Mountain at Holland Gymnasium last Tuesday. The game was fairly close in the first half, but the Terriers outscored the Chieftains 41-17 in the second half to clinch their sixth straight win.
Ian McKeen led the way for the 6-0 Terriers with 20 points, while Mike Hall contributed 18 and Kendrick Mills and Will Bourne each had 9.
• Twin Valley continues to struggle. Last Tuesday, they lost to Poultney, 58-36, to fall to 1-7. The size of the visiting Blue Devils made the difference by the final quarter as they outscored the smaller Wildcats, 23-6. Hunter Therrien finished with 11 points to lead the 1-7 Wildcats.
Hockey
• At the midpoint of the girls' hockey season, the Brattleboro Colonels have a 4-4-1 record. Their first tie of the year came on Saturday night at Withington Rink, where the Colonels played Stowe to a 1-1 draw.
Brattleboro's only goal came in the first period. After Stowe goaltender Danielle Mayo made a glove save of a drive by Brattleboro's Maddie Rollins, the Colonels got a faceoff in the Stowe end. Emily Wilson won the draw, and got the puck to Rollins, who then slammed into the back of the net.
Monica Wentz tied the game for Stowe a few minutes later and after that, Mayo and Brattleboro goaltender Alex Fellows kept the game scoreless the rest of the way.
• Nick Rancourt scored twice in regulation and Andy Harris notched the winner with 2:10 to go in overtime to give the Brattleboro boys a 3-2 win at Hartford on Saturday.
The Colonels are now 3-6, and have won three of their last four games. Interestingly enough, all three wins have come on the road. They are currently ranked seventh out of the 12 teams in Division II.
Nordic skiing
• Thanks to snowmaking, the Brattleboro Colonels finally had a race at a venue that wasn't near the Canadian border. Grafton Ponds made enough snow for 2 kilometers of trails, which was enough to put on a Marble Valley League meet last Monday.
The Colonel girls easily won their meet with 17 points, followed by Mount Anthony with 23 and Woodstock with 42. Halie Lange led wire-to-wire to finish first to lead Brattleboro. Teammates Leah Silverman snd Emma Straus finished fourth, and sixth, respectively while Linnea Jahn and Helen Manning edged out their Mount Anthony counterparts to clinch the team victory. Also racing was Michaela Shea-Gander, Hannah Reichel, and Katie Grasso.
The Colonel boys were third with 41 points, behind first place Mount Anthony (19 points) and Woodstock (39). Rutland's Issac Wright won the boys' race, while Brattleboro's Graham Glennon came in fourth. Teammate Austin Lester was eighth, followed by Jacob Ellis, Noah Borochoff-Porte, Sam Green, Jeff Kahler and Jonathon Burdo.
Lange continued her winning ways in South Burlington on Saturday, winning a freestyle race and helping the Colonel girls take third in the meet. Silverman and Straus wound up 11th and 12th, respectively, while Jahn (17th) and Manning (19th) rounded out Brattleboro's top five.
The Brattleboro boys came in fourth in their meet. Glennon finished 10th to lead the Brattleboro boys, followed by Lester (12th), Ellis (16th), Oliver Pomazi (38th) and Borochoff-Porte (42nd).
Wrestling
• The Bellows Falls-Hartford team were tested last weekend at the Northbridge (Mass.) Invitational. They were the only Vermont team in the 22-team field, but managed to more than hold their own against bigger Massachusetts and Rhode Island schools.
Sophomore Nolan Veins won the championship at the 145-pound weight class, while his younger brother Austin Viens, a freshman, was fourth in the 106-pound class. Steve Cerrone, Patrick Libuda, Kyle Record, Chris Earle, and Shane Brown also participated, but did not place in the top six in their respective weight classes.
Free ski, snowboard lessons
• Living Memorial Park Snow Sports and Mount Snow's Ski School will offer free ski and snowboard lessons again this year.
The lessons will be held at the park's ski hill, which is maintained and operated by Living Memorial Park Snow Sports, a completely volunteer-run nonprofit organization. The lessons will be from 6–7:30 p.m., and run for three consecutive Thursday evenings; Jan. 26, and Feb. 2 and 9.
You must have your own equipment, and a $5 lift ticket is required if you will be riding the T-bar. You must pre-register by 8 p.m. on the Monday prior to that week's lesson by calling 802-254-6772. Calls after that time will be registered for the following week. The following information is required when you call to register: snowboard or ski lesson, age of the participant (must be at least 7), and experience level of the person taking the lesson.
Also, Living Memorial Park Snow Sports is looking for volunteers to run the lift, load skiers and boarders, groom and make snow. Training will be provided. Call 802-257-4074 to volunteer.