RICHFORD – The Twinfield-Cabot boys basketball team earned a gritty overtime win at Richford last week before fending off a pesky Stowe team, improving to 14-3 while running their win streak to six straight.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Two-time Vermont Dream Dozen selection Tej Stewart erupted for 28 points and 11 rebounds to power the Trojans to a thrilling come from behind 69-65 overtime road win against Richford last Monday. Jerrick Jacobs connected on six three-pointers on his way to a 36-point night, giving the Falcons a fifteen-point cushion at the half and a nine-point advantage with eight minutes to play. Freshman Omar Miksic-Knibb’s career-high 20 points and seven assists helped fuel a fourth quarter comeback that saw both teams knotted at 51-51 with under three minutes to go after a steal and layup from Zepherin Hebert. Bobby Gendron (15 points) sank a pair of free throws to put Richford back up two with just under thirty seconds to play, but a young Trojan squad had every answer for the Division III contenders on their home floor. Thomas Gouge did the dirty work inside once again for Twinfield-Cabot, finishing with 14 points in the win. Marcel Gendron chipped in with 12 in the loss for the Falcons as they fell to 14-4.
“Late in the third quarter during a timeout I’m looking at my junior leaders and freshman and they are nothing but all smiles, loving the moment. I just reminded them that opportunities like this is why we get up for extra shots, watch film, and beat each other up in practice all season. Win or lose, I just wanted to see what happens if we gave 110% the rest of the way, and boy did those kids respond. It was so fun to watch, and I looked across the gym at my parents who made the long drive to Richford, and you could tell that was probably the best $5 they would spend that week to come watch us play like that. Our bench energy was electric giving us motivation to finish it off and Tej was clutch at the free throw line in overtime to help seal it. This team continues to get better!” said head coach Kris Bador.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Eli Russell pumped in 19 points to lead the Trojans to a hard-fought 56-45 win over Stowe Friday night. Miksic Knibb complemented with 14 points, six assists and three steals. Stewart added another double double (10 points 11 boards) and Gouge held down the paint with nine points and a pair of blocks. Twinfield-Cabot took a 32-23 lead into the break, but the Raiders stormed back to within two with eight minutes to play behind a team-high 18 points from Chase Brown. Stowe was coming off a stunning road upset over Hazen Union earlier in the week, but the Trojan defense was difference down the stretch.
“We knew they would be coming in on a high note after a huge win against one of the top programs in the state. Me and my assistant coaches just stressed playing at our own pace and we did a good job of that in the first half. Stowe made a nice adjustment in the third quarter and the boys responded with another gut check in the fourth quarter. With three games remaining, we are going to continue to focus on controlling ourselves, playing our style for 32 minutes and outworking anyone with a different colored jersey on. Job note finished,” said Bador.
Bador’s squad has rocketed up to the second seed in the current Division IV rankings behind West Rutland. Danville, Twin Valley and Williamstown round out the top five. They travel to Northfield on Wednesday and BFA-Fairfax on Friday night before a showdown with Winooski at home on Saturday afternoon to wrap up the regular season. The Spartans were the last team to take down the Trojans in a 67-65 thriller last month.
