Hazen Union sophomore Wildcat Morgan Michaud (left) looks to pass by Steele Nelson (right) of Harwood during action, January 11, at Hazen. The Wildcats beat Harwood 61-42.
BRADFORD – The Hazen Union boys’ basketball team bounced back from their first loss of the season with a trio of impressive wins over Oxbow, Randolph, and Harwood last week to keep pace near the top of the Division III standings.
Freshman Jameson Lamarre poured in a career-high 20 points to power the Wildcats to an 84-44 road win over Oxbow last Monday.
Xavier Hill flirted with another triple-double, scoring 13 points, grabbing 10 boards, and dishing out nine assists in the win.
Gabe Michaud and Morgan Michaud combined for 23 points and 14 rebounds as Hazen took a 17-point advantage into the break and never looked back.
Ethan Davis led the Olympians with 10 points in the loss, dropping them to 3-7 on the season.
Junior sharpshooter Brendan Moodie drained seven threes on his way to a 29-point night as the Wildcats returned home from a five-game road trip to handle Randolph 83-42 on Wednesday.
Xavier Hill continued to be impressive orchestrating the offense, dishing out a school-record 15 assists. Hill also became the only player in program history to record multiple triple-doubles, adding 15 points and 13 rebounds to his impressive stat sheet.
Ryan Morrison chipped in with nine points and nine rebounds in the win, which was career No. 400 for their head coach Aaron Hill.
Hill has led his Wildcat program to 14 Final Fours, capturing six state championships before the age of 50, and joins the pantheon of Vermont high school basketball coaching. He was presented with a game ball from former assistant and Hazen JV coach (23 years) Mike Baker after the game and spoke to the crowd of the gratitude he has for the community, his players, and his family.
Shea Fontanella led Randolph with 15 points as they fell to 5-4.
Xavier Hill poured in 20 more points to go along with seven assists and seven rebounds to lead Hazen Union to an impressive home win over Division II Harwood on Friday. The senior point guard’s big week was bittersweet, as he left the game late with an ankle injury.
Moodie knocked down two more 3-pointers in a 12-point effort, Gabe Michaud added nine points and five rebounds, and Ryan Morrison was strong again underneath with an eight-point, seven-rebound night.
Toby Bellows and Josh McHugh paced the Highlanders with 11 points apiece, but it wasn’t enough as they saw their four-game winning streak come to an end.
Hazen improves to 8-1, sitting only behind Thetford Academy in the current Division III standings. Hill likes the contributions he is getting from his younger players and is hoping his star point guard doesn’t miss much time.
“Jameson has improved by leaps and bounds from the start of the season and for him to give us the energy and key production off the bench as a freshman this early is really impressive. Kobe Smith and Lincoln Hill are also coming along quickly as freshmen and sophomores Sully Laflam and Morgan Michaud’s play has been solid for us as well. Xavier has played so well for us this year, but he rolled his ankle pretty bad, and he’ll miss some time. We’ll be careful with it and make sure to get him fully healthy before he returns. This is another opportunity for other guys to step up with two more tough games ahead of us this week,” said Hill.
Hazen Union squares off against a pair of Division II opponents this week, going back on the road to face Lyndon Institute on Wednesday before welcoming Spaulding to the Cat Den on Friday night.
