Familiar Foe Ends Championship Run for Twinfield-Cabot Boys

BARRE – Championship experience, free throws and the bounce of a basketball was literally the difference in the thin margins Monday night as Danville dashed the title hopes of the Twinfield-Cabot boys basketball team in the final seconds at the Barre Auditorium.

Kohl Guinard’s tough finish over and through multiple Trojan defenders with less than four seconds to play, powered the Bears to their second straight Division IV state title game with a 48-47 win. Guinard finished with 11 points and his game-winning floater gave his team the lead for just the second time in what was a hardnosed defensive contest. Junior Tej Stewart had a chance to make the Aud erupt one last time on the Marshfield-Plainfield side, when he caught a 40-foot inbounds heave near midcourt and turned downhill all in one motion. He got all the way to the basket in under three seconds, fighting through contact, but his finish bounced off the back of the rim as time expired. The two-time Vermont Dream Dozen selection finished with a game-high 21 points and 15 coming in the first half to give the Trojans a 27-22 lead heading into the locker room. Fellow juniors Eli Russell (9 points) and Thomas Gouge (8) were in key moments down the stretch as the Trojans kept a hard charging Bears team at arm’s length time and time again. With Twinfield-Cabot leading 45-44 at under a minute to play, Gouge knocked down two of the most important free throws of his career after missing his previous three attempts to make it 47-44 Trojans. With starters Andrew Joncas (13 points) and Sebastian Eldred on the bench with five fouls apiece, Alijah Andrews made it 47-46 twenty seconds later off a beautiful baseline feed from sophomore Jackson Giroux who entered the game for Joncas. The Trojans came out of a timeout with 28 seconds left and no intentions of holding the ball. Stewart drove hard to the basket, drawing two defenders and skipped a pass to a wide-open Russell in the right corner. Russell’s attempt went off the front rim and the Bears got the ball back with 19 seconds left, setting up Guinard’s heroics.

Senior Arius Andrews led Danville with 14 big points inside and his younger brother Alijah (10) clamped down on Stewart defensively down the stretch. The Bears connected on 10 of their 13 free throws and the Trojans missed eight of their 16 attempts. Danville has now ended Twinfield-Cabot’s season three straight years, winning and had won four in a row against the Trojans overall, before head coach Kris Bador and his young squad earned a hard-fought win on the road against their crosstown rivals back in January. Bador’s ball club spearheaded by junior captains Stewart and Russell led the Trojan program back to the Barre Auditorium for the first time in eight years with emphatic wins over Sharon Academy and Blue Mountain in the first two rounds. Russell scored a combined 50 points, including a career-high 32 in a 60-45 quarterfinal win over the Bucks last Friday.

Anyone in the stands Monday night could see that the chances of seeing Twinfield-Cabot back at the Aud soon are extremely likely. Bador and his program’s championship aspirations are high. The last time the Trojans played in a state title game was back-to-back years under Chris Hudson in 2016-2017. The last time they hung a championship banner was in 2012 led by those legendary Chad Copeland teams that defeated Danville in the Division IV title game in consecutive seasons. As much as Bador and his club had the talent and desire to go all the way this season, he also realizes that he returns a special roster next winter that will now have Barre Auditorium experience under their belt.

“A huge appreciation for this special group of kids, all the hard work they’ve put in to get them to this point, and all the people who have come back to support this program throughout the season. This group relished this opportunity, but they know, win or lose, they also get the opportunity to return next year and put all the hard work again with their friends. It’s a tight knit group that has become family and I’m proud of that. The last time I was at a game like this was watching my son Connor Spencer who was on that last Twinfield team to make it to the Aud. He’s now on our coaching staff along with former players Jordan Moore, Anthony Golden, and that’s special. Our entire coaching staff and support and fitness team is special, and the kids feed off the championship pedigree that they bring to the program. Also want to give a shout out to the support my wife gives me and the program and all the parents, our boosters, and people in the community who support this team all year round. We couldn’t do it without them, and it means a lot to me and the kids,” said Bador.

Danville will look to cut down the nets for the first time since 2019 as they take on top-seeded West Rutland Saturday at noon.

Ken Brown