MARSHFIELD – The Twinfield-Cabot boys basketball team navigated their way through the bottom half of the Mountain League last week, getting out with good health and staying atop of the current Division IV standings at 16-1.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Eli Russell drained four 3-pointers on his way to a 16-point night to lead the Trojans to a 67-32 home win over Stowe last Tuesday on Senior Night. Fellow seniors Zepherin Hebert (15 points) and Thomas Gouge (8) punished the Raiders in the paint and beyond the arc as the Trojans took a 50-20 lead into the final period. Sophomore Azeem Stewart added 13 points for Twinfield-Cabot in the win. Ben Smith led Stowe with 11 points and Caku Brown chipped in with 9 as they fell to 3-14.
Tej Stewart, Sam McLane, Sam Churchill, Ben Monaco and Wyatt Bickford were also honored before the game for their outstanding high school careers on the hardwood. It has been a historically great senior class for Twinfield-Cabot in multiple sports the past five seasons. In head coach Kris Bador’s second season on the sidelines, the Trojans made it back to the Barre Auditorium last March for the first time in nearly a decade. They came a field goal away from the Division IV state title game. They’re on pace to return to Barre next month, securing their first top seed in the division since the legendary Chad Copeland days fourteen years ago.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
This same class brought a 16-0 record to Rutland in the Division IV soccer state championship match this past fall before coming up just short to undefeated Twin Valley. Russell was also the point guard for the Trojans on the pitch, scoring a career-high 30 goals, while earning Mountain League Player of the Year honors and being a Vermont All-State selection for a second straight year. McLane was also a terror for the Trojan soccer team this past season, scoring a career-high 26 goals. Stewart and Russell have a chance to put a punctuation on a historic season for the Twinfield-Cabot hoop program in the next two weeks as they both are inside of 40 points from reaching 1,000 for their careers.
Gouge led the Trojans on Thursday night with 13 hard points inside as they cruised past Northfield on the road 53-40. McLane added 10 points and Russell, nine, as Twinfield-Cabot ballooned a seven-point halftime lead to 13 with eight minutes to play. Former Hazen Union standout Damian Morrison led the Marauders with 13 and Alex Colgan and Elijah Scott added 10 points apiece in the loss.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
The Trojans remain percentage points ahead of undefeated West Rutland for the top spot in the current Division IV standings due to their rugged schedule out of division. MSJ (16-2), Williamstown (14-4) and Twin Valley (14-4) round out the top five. Defending champion Danville looms in the #6 spot at 13-6.
Twinfield-Cabot will be tournament tested this week as they welcomed Oxbow to town on Monday and Williamstown on Thursday before wrapping up the regular season on the road against Richford Saturday.
