NORTHEAST KINGDOM – Twinfield head coach Kris Bador and his junior starting backcourt led the lion’s share of Mountain League honors last week after a sensational season that saw the Trojans punch their ticket to Barre for the first time in almost a decade.
Tej Stewart was rewarded with a Mountain League First Team selection last week in what was his best season in a Twinfield-Cabot uniform. After a preseason injury to starting big man Sam Churchill, Stewart did a little bit of everything for the Trojans. He was near the team lead in scoring once again this past season, but increased his rebounding and assists exponentially, allowing his teammates to grow and contribute around him. He nearly beat crosstown rival Danville single handedly at the Barre Auditorium earlier this month, scoring 15 of his game-high 21 points in the first half. Joining Stewart on the first team was Andrew Joncas, who will officially go down as a legend in Danville after finally cutting down the nets in a Division IV title game in his senior season. Joncas held most of the single game and season scoring records coming into this year and capped off an incredible career by becoming the school’s all-time leading scorer with 1,717 points. Rounding out First Team selections were a trio of 1,000-point scorers in Richford’s Jerrick Jacobs, Blue Mountain’s Kason Blood, and Mountain League Player of the Year Evan Bailey of Williamstown.
With only five slots available on the First Team, it’s understandable how Eli Russell was a Second Team selection after an incredible breakout year for the Trojans at the point guard position. Russell led the team in scoring, including a combined 50 points in the first two rounds of the Division IV tournament. Russell and Stewart will no doubt be a handful for Mountain League opponents next winter. Danville doesn’t win a state title without Kohl Guinard’s heroics against the Trojans in the semifinals, and he also earned a Second Team selection. Fellow junior Sebastian Eldred earned an Honorable Mention for the Bears, along with first year Trojan Omar Miksic-Knibb. The outstanding freshman was a defensive menace for elite scorers in the Mtn. League all season long, and he will get another year of refining his offensive skills alongside Russell and Stewart next season.
Bador was named Mountain League Coach of the Year after guiding his young team to 19 wins, and 11 game win streak, and their first trip back to the Barre Auditorium in eight years. The second-year head coach has rebuilt the Trojan program in a hurry and will have a talented veteran squad that will be looking to bring a state title back to Marshfield next winter for the first time since 2012. Bador has injected enthusiasm and time into all levels of the game in Marshfield and has the community buzzing with support behind his team. He realizes his team won’t be able to sneak up on anybody next season, but that ability to take that next step is what it will take to win it all.
“Being able to understand the change and focus on the mindset from hunting teams this past season to being hunted next season, will be the ultimate challenge for this team. This is a tremendous group of boys, and I love coaching them. They’re going to approach it one game at a time again next year and they know everyone in the league is going to be coming for them,” said Bador.
