by Ken Brown
NORTHEAST KINGDOM – The boys’ basketball Mountain League division had several teams make some serious noise in the postseason earlier this month, including Winooski’s perfect season and several local student athletes were honored last week for their outstanding seasons on the hardwood.
Danville’s Christian Young led First Team selections after powering the Bears to a 16-7 season that included a trip to the Division IV Final Four at the Barre Auditorium. He was joined on the Mountain League First Team roster by Trevon Bradley and Daniel Surma of Winooski, Evan Dennis (Blue Mountain), and Richford’s Elia Varisco. Young averaged nearly 15 points per game in his senior season for Danville and Dennis led the Bucks offense at over 20 points per contest in their quest to defend their 2022 Division IV title. After falling just short in last year’s Division III state title game, Bradley and Surma ended their careers on a high note, leading Winooski to a 22-0 season and a state championship.
Freshman Andrew Joncas led Second Team selections for Danville after averaging just under 20 points per game for the Bears. He was joined on the Second team by Jerrick Jacobs (Richford), Evan Fletcher (BFA-Fairfax), Ricky Fennimore (Blue Mountain), and Winooski’s Hassan Hassan.
Twinfield-Cabot’s Meles Gouge and Craftsbury Academy’s (CA) Dylan Washer broke through a litany of stacked rosters throughout the league to earn well-deserved Honorable Mentions. Gouge has had a stellar junior season on both the pitch and the hardcourt for the Trojans. He was a Vermont All-State soccer selection for a second consecutive season last fall and continued to develop as the Trojan point guard this year for head coach Chris Hudson, leading a freshman heavy team to double-digit wins and to the second round of the Division IV playoffs. Washer and the Chargers struggled to find numbers and wins this past winter, but the junior led CA in scoring for a second consecutive season at over 15 points per game and is in line to be the next 1,000 point career scorer for the program. Rounding out the Honorable Mention selections were Chase Brown (Stowe), Chase Lund (Oxbow), Jackson Wilmette (BFA-Fairfax), and Winooski’s Sam Parris and Kellen Bourgeois.
Winooski’s Trevon Bradley took home Player of the Year honors for the second straight season and Spartan head coach Sam Jackson earned Coach of Year honors for their efforts on a perfect season and division III state title. Winooski has won 42 games under Jackson the past two years.
“Thanks to all the players, coaches, and A.D.s for a great Mountain League season. I really want to praise this class and extend gratitude and appreciation to the seniors as they lost so many games during COVID,” said Jackson.