VERGENNES – The Hazen Union boys basketball team bounced back from a heartbreaker against division rival Thetford Academy earlier in the week with a big road win against Vergennes over the past weekend to improve to 4-2 on the season.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Jamison Lamarre scored a game-high 23 points to lead the Wildcats to a tough 65-60 road win over Vergennes on Saturday. Hazen and Lamarre (seven rebounds, five assists) appeared to be on cruise control early, taking a 40-28 advantage into the break.
The Commodores came storming back to cut the lead to one with eight minutes to play behind seven second half threes.
Hazen hit their free throws down the stretch to hold on for a gutty road win as Sully Laflam added 17 points and Ethan Gann chipped in with 10 points and six rebounds.
Theo Elzinga led Vergennes with 18 in the loss, falling to 2-4 on the season. It was a big bounce-back win for head coach Aaron Hill and his veteran club, coming off a gut wrenching 44-42 home loss to Thetford Academy on Thursday.
Connor Sloop led the Panthers with 12, including the game’s final basket in the closing seconds.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Hazen led 42-40 with just over four minutes to go and took the air out of the ball for over two minutes before Thetford turned them over and tied the game at the other end. Another Hazen turnover led to Sloop’s game-winner and the Wildcats couldn’t answer.
Lincoln Hill led the Wildcats with 13 points and Lamarre added nine. Xander Oshoniyi complimented Sloop with 11 points as they continued to have the Wildcats number.
The Panthers have won four out of the last six Division III state championships, beating Hazen in the title game the last two years.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
“They’re a good program with big physical players, but we just didn’t show up ready to play. For whatever reason they’ve had our number the last few years. As disappointed as I was with how flat we were Thursday, I was thrilled with the energy we brought on the road over the weekend against a really good Vergennes program,” said Hill.
Hill’s team sits at 4-2 and is positioned well in a rugged Division III bracket after sweeping Peoples Academy (PA) over the holiday break. Lamarre punished the Wolves with 24 points and 11 rebounds in a 66-53 win in the 3rd Annual Winter Solstice at the Barre Auditorium on January 3. Morgan Michaud was equally as impressive for the Cats with 22 points, seven rebounds and four assists. Hazen’s defense held the high scoring Jack Lafayette to 16 points on the night as they fell to 3-4 on the season. The Wildcats currently sit fourth in the current Division III rankings and will have a chance to officially announce themselves as contenders this week with pivotal matchups against third ranked Enosburg and undefeated Randolph this week.
“I feel like we are starting to figure things out rotation-wise and I started to see some of the hard work we’ve putting in pay off offensively against Vergennes. It was encouraging to see us starting to get more comfortable with our roles on the offensive end on Saturday. Things ran smoother and I think it will only improve as our understanding of the offense we want to run improves as the season goes on,” said Hill.
Hazen welcomes Enosburg to the Cat Den on Thursday night and will travel to Randolph on Saturday. The Wildcats will stay on the road for a match-up against Lake Region next Tuesday. All home games can be streamed live on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
