HARDWICK – The Hazen Union boys basketball team have won every way imaginable this season, adding a buzzer beater as time expired last week as they pushed their record to 8-1 with wins over Oxbow, Harwood, and Randolph.

photo by Vanessa Fournier
Brendan Moodie continued his brilliant play in his senior season, dropping 21 points, including a trio of threes in a 62-45 home win over Oxbow last Monday. The Olympians looked game for an upset, down just 30-26 at the break but a 32-19 second half run put the game away for the Cats. Sophomore Jameson Lamarre complemented Moodie with 12 points and 10 assists and Morgan Michaud added 11 points and 9 boards in the win. Zadian Walton led Oxbow with 10 points in the loss as they fell to 3-8. Moodie’s averaging over 20 points per game for Hazen this season and his senior leadership at the point has been invaluable for a young team still finding its identity in what was supposed to be a rebuilding year for head coach Aaron Hill.
“We are so lucky to have a player like Brendan in our program. This is an incredible young group of kids, and it has been a blast coaching them so far this season. We have zero easy games in this league and every team on the schedule is capable of beating us,” said Hill.

photo by Vanessa Fournier
Junior Sully Laflam took over the rest of the week for the Cats, starting with a 22-point performance in an impressive 56-43 road win over Division II Harwood on Friday. Laflam drained a trio of threes on the Highlanders and Moodie orchestrated the offense with 15 points and eight assists. Lamarre added 14 in the win and Michaud continued to do the dirty work inside with nine rebounds. Hazen took a 28-17 advantage into the break and Laflam and Moodie hit 13-14 free throws down the stretch to end Harwood’s five game winning streak. Steele Nelson led the Hylanders with 16 as they fell to 6-2.
Laflam capped off his breakout week with another 22-point effort, including a put back at the buzzer to beat Randolph on the road Saturday 62-61. Laflam connected from long range five more times and took advantage of two missed free throws late by the Galloping Ghosts, collecting his own miss and converting on the game winner as time expired. Ethan Gann was a beast inside for Hazen with 12 points and 15 rebounds, Moodie and Lamarre combined for 24 points and 12 assists, and sophomore Lincoln Hill hit a pair of three-pointers, giving him five on the week. Eli Messier led Randolph with 20 points and Shea Fontanella added 18 as they fell to 4-6 on the season.
“The more pressure, the more this team seems to focus. They are just incredible. Playing these competitive games is going to only help our development. We have some very tough match-ups at the back-end of our schedule so it will be a really fun challenge for these guys to go out and see how they do. Everyone is working hard, playing well, and Lincoln’s steady improvement can be an X-factor for us as the season progresses,” said Hill.
Hazen welcomes Lyndon Institute to town on Wednesday night before traveling to Spaulding on Friday.