On a night when the Colonels got off to a sluggish start, they needed a shot of Mad Dog to get them going.
Maddie “Mad Dog” Rollins, that is.
The junior defenseman scored three goals and assisted on another as the Brattleboro Colonels beat the Middlebury Tigers, 4-2, in girls' hockey action at Withington Rink last Wednesday.
The Colonels found themselves down 1-0 just 18 seconds into the game on a goal from Middlebury's Laura Galenkamp. But they did not panic, and steadied themselves as the opening period went on. Rollins then got the equalizer, an unassisted goal with 3:05 to go, and Brattleboro took over the game from there.
Three straight Colonel goals in the second period would put the game out of reach. Rollins assisted on an Emily Wilson goal with 10:01 left, then scored the next two goals to complete her hat trick - an unassisted goal with 6:47, the other set up by Miranda Moseley with 2:35 left.
Middlebury's Maria Ploof scored with 1:14 left in the second, but that was as close as the Tigers would come the rest of the way. Colonels goaltender Alex Fellows made 24 saves to pick up the win.
On Saturday night, the Colonels hosted their annual Pink in the Rink game at Withington Rink. The team donned pink jerseys as a fundraiser for breast cancer awareness and research. It was a double victory, as the game raised $225 and the Colonels defeated Rice, 2-1. Wilson and Moseley were the goal scorers, while Lou Lou Terwilliger got the win in goal for the 7-7-2 Colonels.
Boys' basketball
•Ethan Mitnik and Soren Pelz-Walsh scored 20 and 10 points, respectively, but it wasn't enough as Brattleboro lost to Rutland, 55-50, last Monday.
• Arlington went into last Monday's game at Twin Valley with every expectation that they'd win. However, a combination of great defense and a dozen three-point baskets by Twin Valley resulted in a 60-56 upset victory.
The Wildcats used the classic strategy for a team facing a bigger opponent - slow down their center on defense and shoot, shoot, shoot from beyond the three-point arc. Twin Valley's Eli Park neutralized Arlington center D.J. Jennings, while Colin Lozito and Cade Nesbitt each scored 17 points to lead the Wildcats. Dal Nesbitt chipped in with 16.
Of course, this strategy only works when the shots are going in. The Wildcats had trouble making baskets down the stretch and lost, 55-51, to West Rutland last Thursday. Colin Lozito and Cade Nesbitt led with 16 and 10 points, respectively, for the 4-12 Wildcats, while Park hauled down 10 rebounds.
• Freshman point guard Chris Lasch scored 23 points, 13 of them off free throws, as the Leland & Gray Rebels beat Otter Valley, 61-53, in Brandon last Monday. Bobby Culver added 13 points, while Billy Nupp scored 8.
Leland & Gray had another tough game on Thursday night in Townshend against Proctor, but the Rebels avenged an earlier loss with a 36-31 win over the Phantoms. The Rebels withstood a late run by Proctor as Chris Lasch and Culver scored 9 and 8 points, respectively, for the victors. The Rebels ended the week at 11-4 and the No. 3 spot in Division III.
• After winning six straight games to start the season, the Bellows Falls Terriers are in a major slump. BF lost its sixth game in a row last Monday with a 58-48 loss to Woodstock. Trevor Wilson had 16 points and 15 rebounds for the Terriers, while Kendrick Mills added 10 points.
The losing streak reached seven last Friday with a 54-41 loss to Fall Mountain. Mills scored 20 points in a losing cause.
But the Terriers ended the slide on Saturday at Poultney with a 68-63 victory over the Blue Devils. Mills again was the high scorer with 17, and got help from Michael Hall (14 points) and Will Bourne (12 points). The Terriers are now 7-7 heading into the homestretch of the season.
Girls' basketball
• Freshman Abbie Lesure scored 18 points for Brattleboro, but another ninth-grader, Springfield's Chelsea McAllister, had a monster game with 31 points as the Cosmos beat the Colonels, 61-46, last Tuesday. The Colonels never recovered from a slow start, despite the best efforts of Lesure, Mary Richardson (9 points and 8 rebounds), and Becca Bird (7 points).
The Colonels ran into another hot team as the Windsor Yellowjackets muscled their way to 63-47 win on Friday at the BUHS gym. Brattleboro had some success with their zone defense in the first half, but Windsor's size allowed them to control the boards and, eventually, the game. Richardson led the Colonels with 20 points.
Brattleboro ended a winless week with a 54-25 loss at St. Johnsbury on Saturday. A 24-2 run in the first half by the Hilltoppers put the game away. Richardson had 9 points and 7 rebounds to lead the 4-10 Colonels, while McKensie Bover added 8 points and 6 rebounds.
• Proctor beat up on Leland & Gray, 63-44, in Townshend last Monday. Haley Buffum went 10-for-10 from the free throw line and finished with 18 points, while Ashley Goddard had 8 points and 10 rebounds, and Morrow added 7 points and 5 boards.
The Rebels fared no better against Otter Valley in Townshend on Friday night as they lost, 63-35. The Otters led 40-14 at the half and cruised from there. Callie Ginter was high scorer with 11 points as Leland & Gray finished the week at 6-9.
• Twin Valley took an early lead, but Windsor tightened up their defense and came away with a 57-41 win last Tuesday. Savannah Nesbitt finished with 17 points, 9 rebounds and 5 steals to lead the Wildcats.
The Wildcats bounced back on Friday with a 30-23 home win over West Rutland. Great defense by Twin Valley helped offset a so-so shooting night. Abbi Molner was the top scorer with 11 points.
• Bellows Falls edged Woodstock, 43-41, on Saturday. Kammie Crawford led the way with 12 points for the 5-9 Terriers, while Emily Dufault added 8.
Wrestling
• Freshmen Kyle Record and Austin Viens each joined the 30-win club as the Bellows Falls-Hartford wrestling team placed seventh out of 19 teams at the annual Jason Lowell Memorial Tournament at Mount Mansfield High School on Feb. 4.
Sophomore Nolan Viens improved to 36-3 on the season and placed second in the 138-pound class. Austin Viens also took second in the 106-pound class, in upping his record at 30-8. Record (145) and Steve Cerrone (132) each wound up in third place in their respective classes.
Nordic skiing
• The Brattleboro girls won the Marble Valley League freestyle relay championships on Friday at Grafton Ponds. The A team of Emma Straus, Helen Manning, Leah Silverman and Halie Lange covered the course in 28 minutes, 48 seconds, beating runner-up Mount Anthony. The B team of Hannah Reichel, Katie Grasso, Asha DiMatte-LePepe and Manya Gordon took seventh place in the 13-team field.
The Brattleboro boys also had two teams in their relay race. The A team of Noah Borochoffe-Porte, Jacob Ellis, Sam Green and Graham Glennon finished third, while the B team of Anthony and Jonathan Burdo, Jeff Kahler and Gabe Britton came in eighth out of 10 teams.
Harris Hill ski jump set for this weekend
• The world's top male and female ski jumpers from the US, Europe and Canada are scheduled to compete this weekend at the Harris Hill Ski Jumping Competition.
The 90-meter jump, designed to International Ski Federation (FIS) specifications, will not only host the annual Pepsi Challenge and the Fred Harris Memorial Tournament, but will also feature three additional competitions over the weekend.
Harris Hill has been selected by the International Ski Federation to host the first FIS Cup tournament ever held in the U.S. The FIS tournament will be held on Saturday and Sunday. Saturday will also hold the U.S. Collegiate ski jumping finals and the United States American Ski Jumping finals.
For more information, visit harrishillskijump.com.
McLoughlin, Higgins enter KSC Hall of Fame
• Two local women were inducted into the Keene State College Alumni Athletic Hall of Fame on Feb. 4.
Meghan McLoughlin, a Brattleboro native, went 39-14-5 with a 0.39 earned run average as a softball pitcher for the Owls between 2002 and 2005. She led her team to Little East Conference championships and berths in the Division III championships in 2004 and 2005. She earned her degree in Elementary Special Education in 2005 and still serves on the Owl's softball coaching staff as an assistant.
Debbie Higgins, a Bellows Falls native, played for the Owls from 1972 to 1976 as one of the pioneers in women's basketball at the school. A 5-foot-4 guard, she scored 759 points during her career, and her 22 point-per-game average as a junior still stands as a school record. She graduated in 1976 with a degree in Physical Education and, for the last 25 years, has been running her own painting and wallpapering business.
Clark wins 14th straight superpipe title
• It's 14 straight superpipe wins and counting for West Dover's Kelly Clark. Her latest win came at Snowbasin Resort in Utah last weekend at a Dew Tour event. Her 95.0 score not only won the event, but clinched Clark's third straight Dew Tour Cup.
Next up for the 28-year-old Clark is the World Superpipe Championships, which are happening this week in Oslo, Norway.