STOWE – The Hazen Union boys basketball team looked locked in last week, dominating Stowe on the road in both team’s season opener.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Senior Morgan Michaud poured in a career-high 25 points to power the Wildcats to a 79-36 road win over Stowe last Monday. Michaud added five rebounds and four steals to his impressive stat-line as Hazen opened the game on a 26-3 run and never looked back. Head coach Aaron Hill and his veteran squad couldn’t wait to open the season against Stowe after the Raiders ended their 12-game losing streak to the Wildcats last February in a shocking upset.
“It was great to start out the season by avenging one of the toughest losses we suffered last year. Morgan was terrific on both ends and earned family bragging rights with his brothers (Gabe and Lincoln) by scoring a family-high 25 points,” said Hill.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Junior Jameson Lamarre picked right up where he left off last season, torching the Raiders with 21 points, six assists while hauling down 11 rebounds. Sully Laflam rounded out a balanced Wildcat attack with 13 points and six boards. Hazen limited Stowe’s top threat Chase Brown to just eight points on the night. Brown canned seven threes against the Wildcats on his way to a 24 point night last winter.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
“Our defensive intensity and unselfish play was really good. Jameson’s passing and scoring were outstanding. It was a nice team win to start the season,” said Hill
Hill’s program hosted their tenth addition of the Dave Morse Classic DMC) late last week at the Cat Den. It’s hard to believe that it has been a full decade since we lost the Vermont legend, a mentor to many and a community friend. Once again, the statewide renowned holiday tournament will feature some of the best basketball outside of Division I in the state of Vermont. Lamoille’s program is ascending after a handful of down years, winning 14 games last season. Williamstown moved to Division IV last season and tallied 16 wins, including a trip to the Final Four. These two programs opened the DMC in the early game, followed by Hazen and Peoples Academy in a classic arch-rival match-up in the nightcap.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Hazen continued to tackle their early season schedule by hosting Enosburg on Tuesday and will travel to Vergennes on December 29. The Wildcat junior varsity program will compete in the Williamstown JV Tourney on December 30. Hill’s squad will travel to the Barre Auditorium on January 3 to take on Peoples Academy in the Winter Solstice.
