WELLS RIVER – The Twinfield-Cabot boys basketball team kept pace in the loaded Division IV standings last week, improving to 9-3 on the season with a dominant win over Blue Mountain.
Eli Russell led a balanced Trojan scoring attack, pumping in a game-high 16 points to power Twinfield-Cabot over Blue Mountain 53-38 on the road Friday night. Thomas Gouge (14 points) and Zepherin Hebert (13) helped give the visitors a 28-18 advantage heading into the break and the Trojans kept their foot on the gas, expanding their lead to 16 with eight minutes to play. Head coach Kris Bador was pleased with his team’s effort despite showing some rust from playing just their second game in the last two weeks.
“I haven’t liked the long layoff and neither have the kids, but Eli came out and set the tone early for us. He’s a real team first guy and he got the offense going, knocking down four three-pointers. Thomas was big in the middle all night and Zepherin’s energy led our defensive effort. We were too much in a hurry early on which led to some turnovers, but we had a good discussion as a team at halftime, did a much better job on the glass, and the boys showed good patience in the second half,” said Bador.
Kason Blood and Jamal Saibou combined for 25 points in the loss as they fell to 3-9 on the season. The Trojans moved up to third in the current Division IV standings. It will be a sprint to the finish to secure a top four seed with West Rutland (13-1) pacing the field, followed by a 12-win Danville team that has won four straight. Twinfield-Cabot is holding off fourth ranked Twin Valley and will square off against a defending Division IV champs Grace Christian squad later in the week that currently sits in the fifth spot. Bador rewarded his team’s victory with a trip to Patrick Gymnasium to watch the Catamounts defeat the University of Maine over the weekend. His young squad has embraced every challenge thrown at them this season with victories over Twin Valley, Danville, Richford and Williamstown. He expects the same kind of energy and grit with the defending champs coming to town this week.
“There is going to be a lot of movement at the top of the standings the next few weeks, so we are going to have to remain focused on the little things we can control as a team to continue to get better. We look forward to getting back into the gym for a busy week with three home games. Grace Christian are the defending champs, and they come in for a big game on Friday night and we need Trojan Nation to come out in full force to fill the gym all week. Shout out to all the boosters who help support these great kids and don’t forget Friday night is dollar popcorn night!” said Bador.
Northfield came to Marshfield on Monday night and Oxbow is scheduled to make the trip on Wednesday. Grace Christian makes the long trip from Bennington on Friday night to wrap up a busy week for the Trojans. All game times start at 7 p.m.