HARDWICK – It was the tale of two games for the Hazen Union boys basketball team last week as they dominated U-32 at home before two-time defending Division II Montpelier returned the favor, dropping the Cats to 11-3 on the season.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Junior Sully Laflam kept the hot hand on Wednesday night at the Cat Den, pouring in a game-high 24 points to lead Hazen past U-32 81-53. Senior Brendan Moodie hit his season average with 19 points, while dishing out five assists. Sophomore Lincoln Hill had a strong 12 points off the bench, Morgan Michaud had eight points and eight assists and Damian Morrison connected from long rang on his way to a 6-point effort. Moodie left the game late with an injury and head coach Aaron Hill hopes his star point guard only misses a game or two.
Carson DeForge led the Raiders with 12 points in the loss as they fell to 2-12.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Montpelier flexed its muscles behind their pair of 1,000-point scorers on Friday as the Solons were never tested in an 81-33 road win against the Wildcats. Carson Cody (17 points) knocked down five three-pointers in limited action and Carter Bruzzese added 13 for a Montpelier team that has now won 14 straight, six of those coming by double digits. Clayton Foster also connected from long range three times on his way to a 10 point effort and the Solons look poised to defend their Division II title for a second straight year. Morrison and Hill combined for 4 threes for the Wildcats in the loss, who were without Moodie to run their offense. In Monday’s win over Lake Region, Cody surpassed Erin Bressette as the program’s all-time leading scorer with nearly 1,300 career points. In the same game, Bruzzese also became a member of the 1,000-point club for a Montpelier club who’s only loss has come to Division I Burlington.
“This Montpelier program the last two seasons are two of the toughest teams we have had to go up against in many years. They are experienced, talented, and very balanced. Having to play them without Brendan in the lineup certainly made it a very challenging game because of their intense ball pressure defense. I like where we are at as a team once we get Brendan back to full health. We have had a few people step up to give us more offensive balance as of late, which is great to see this time of year. It will be a very challenging two weeks to end the regular season. Every team we have left is capable of beating us if we are not on our game. This team loves the challenge,” said HIll.
Hazen hosted Stowe on Monday and will stay at home to welcome a stout North Country team to town on Wednesday night. They hit the road for a matchup against Lake Region on Friday and return home for a clash with Lamoille next Monday. All home games can be streamed on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
