BRADFORD – After thumping Woodstock in the opening round of the division III state tournament, the Peoples Academy (PA) girls basketball team’s upset bid over third seeded Oxbow came up a field goal short last week.
Former Hazen Union alum and current Lady Wolves’ head coach Rick Welcome nearly got his upstart squad back to Barre for second consecutive season on Saturday, but Oxbow came back from a nine point deficit in the fourth quarter to advance back to the Aud with an improbable 46-44 win. Makenna Houston’s 15 points and Brooke Osgood’s 11 helped Oxbow complete the comeback from a 38-29 deficit with eight minutes to play. Freshman Daisy Berg led PA with 16 points and former Hazen Union freshman Chloe Moodie added 10 in the loss. Oxbow ended PA’s Cinderella bid last season at the Aud in what was Welcome’s first season on the sidelines. The Lady Wolves season comes to an end at 14-8. Oxbow will face defending champion Windsor on Thursday night for a chance to go to their second consecutive state title game.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Bears begin title defense red-hot
DANVILLE – In what has been an up and down year for the defending Division IV champs, the Danville boys basketball team closed out the regular season against Williamstown with their eighth straight win last week and will enter the state tournament as the No. 7 seed.
Landon Fournier’s game-high 23 points helped the Bears earn a split in the season series with a 54-49 win over Williamstown at home last Monday. Fournier torched the Blue Devils for seven 3s and a 41-26 lead after three quarters of play. Alijah Andrews added 12 points and Kohl Guinard chipped in with nine. After starting the year with a pedestrian 6-6 record, the Bears roll into the postseason playing their best basketball. Their last loss came to top seeded Twinfield-Cabot back in January.
Danville will host No. 10 Proctor on Wednesday night in the opening round. If they advance, they will likely travel to second seeded West Rutland on Friday for a quarterfinal matchup.
Cinderella run comes to an end for Lady Bears
WEST RUTLAND – After pulling off the biggest playoff upset in Division IV in ten years over No. 6 Arlington earlier in the week, the Danville girls basketball team struggled to keep up with second seeded Arlington over the weekend.
Lynsey Lavely poured in a season-high 19 points and Myah Morgan dominated the paint with 13 points and 14 rebounds to lead Danville to a 51-45 road upset over Arlington last Tuesday. Lavely punished the Lady Eagles with 17 second half points, denying them their fourth straight trip to the Barre Auditorium.
Four-time defending Division IV state champion West Rutland flexed its muscles against the Lady Bears on Friday night, ending their season at 8-13 with a 67-35 quarterfinal win. Peyton Winn led Danville with 13 points and Lavely added nine in the loss. Haley Raiche led West Rutland with 14. The Golden Horde faced an upset minded Rivendell Academy team in Barre on Monday who knocked off second seeded MSJ in the quarterfinal round.
