HARDWICK – After graduating a Capital League Player of the Year in back-to-back seasons, head coach Aaron Hill is ready to tackle his 26th year on the sidelines with a young and athletic Hazen Union boys basketball squad this coming week.
Hill has guided his storied Wildcat program to three consecutive Division III state title games, capturing his sixth championship at Hazen in 2021. He joined the exclusive 400-career-win club last winter and at the newly minted age of 50, shows no signs of slowing down. He lost five seniors, including three starters off a 20-win team that made it to the final game at the Barre Auditorium last season as the top seed.
Xavier Hill graduated as an all-time Wildcat great and joined Tyler Rivard as the first players in the program to capture Player of the Year honors in the vaunted Capital League. Hill orchestrated the Hazen offense since his sophomore season, and his length, along with fellow seniors Gabe Michaud and Ryan Morrison, will be challenging for Coach Hill to replace.
“That was a great group of seniors who accomplished a lot, and you don’t just replace players like that easily. We are going to look a lot different this season. We are a little undersized, but very fast, athletic, and skilled. I’m really excited about the young talent on this team and the talent coming up through the middle school ranks,” said Hill.
Senior sharpshooter Brendan Moodie returns to bring leadership and stability to the backcourt, and is joined by returning juniors Sully Laflam, Morgan Michaud, and Ethan Gann. Jamison Lamarre leads a talented returning sophomore class that includes Lincoln Hill and Kobe Smith. Craftsbury Academy senior Evan Lamare joins the team this season, along with fellow senior Taylor Cloutier, juniors Damian Morrison, Ari Jurkiewicz, and sophomore Jeter Demers.
“Sully has continued to develop since the work he put in this summer and has looked great. Morgan will bring a lot of defensive tenacity to this team and Brendan, Jamison, and Sully are going to put a lot of points on the board for us on any given night. A lot of teams have gotten better in the league, and we are going to go through our challenges as we develop this team, but I’m excited to watch this group compete and grow. We have a loaded field at the DMC this year and once again Dave’s memory will be honored with some high level high school basketball,” said Hill.
Hill’s Wildcats have won the Dave Morse Classic (DMC) five consecutive years and will once again tip off their season with the ninth installment of the statewide known tournament. Peoples Academy, Williamstown, and Lamoille round out the DMC field this season, with tip off of the opening game coming Wednesday night at 5:30 p.m. Hazen will also celebrate the hanging of their state runner-up banner that same night. Consolation and finals of the DMC will tip off Friday night at 5:30 p.m. The Wildcats welcome Enosburg to the Cat Den next Monday night. All games can be streamed live on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
