Rare Loss by Cats Fuels Big Finish to Week

HARDWICK – A surprising home loss to Stowe to start the week refocused the Hazen Union boys basketball team to lock in defensively as they gutted out a pair of wins over Division II North Country and Lake Region to improve to 13-4.

Ari Jurkiewicz (left) of Hazen Union aims a shot at the basket defended by Stowe’s Ben Sherman (center) and Parker Guffey (right) of Hazen February 10. The Raiders upset the Wildcats 72-56.
photo by Vanessa Fournier

Chase Brown shocked the Cats from long distance Monday night, drilling 7 threes on his way to a 24-point night as Stowe ended a 12-game winless streak to Hazen with a 72-56 upset on the road. Brown fueled a 20-5 second quarter run to help the Raiders take a 43-23 lead into the break. Brendan Moodie’s 22 points (5 threes) tried to bring Hazen back to within striking distance midway through the third, but Maddox Gregory complemented Brown with 16 points in the paint, and the Wildcats couldn’t prevent the upset. Jameson Lamarre added 12 points for Hazen and Damian Morrison chipped in with nine in the loss. The Raiders earned their fifth win of the season.

“Stowe came in fired up and shot the lights out on us. This is a season where there are no weak teams on our schedule and we just need to be ready to play every night,” said head coach Aaron Hill.

Hazen Union junior Wildcat Ethan Gann (left) looks to pass around Aiden Briggs (No. 15) of North Country during action in Hardwick February 12. At right is Scott Kingsley (No. 20) of the Falcons. Hazen edged out North Country 42-41.
photo by Vanessa Fournier

Morgan Michaud’s steal and finish with under thirty seconds to play proved to be the game winner on Wednesday night as the Cats escaped with a 42-41 home win over North Country. Haidin Chilafoux (20 points) gave the Falcons the lead with a deep three at under a minute to play and Hazen looked to be reeling as North Country had the ball on an inbounds play at midcourt with 28 ticks left on the clock. Michaud jumped the inbounds pass and took it all the way to the rim for what proved to be the last score of the game. The Falcons had two different looks at game winning threes in the final seconds but came up short. Sully Laflam led the Cats with 11 points. Hazen used a 16-7 second half run to erase a five-point deficit at the break. The loss dropped North Country to 8-9 on the season.

Moodie drained six more from long range on Friday as his game-high 21 points powered the Wildcats to a 57-42 road win over Lake Region. Damian Morrison connected on 5 threes on his way to a career-high 17 points, fueling a 19-11 third quarter for Hazen that busted open a 29-21 game at the break. Michaud capped off his stellar week with 11 points and 17 rebounds. Laflam dished out 8 assists in the win. Duffy Willey led the Rangers with eight points, including a pair of three-pointers.