HARDWICK – Hazen Union boys basketball head coach Aaron Hill claimed top honors in the rugged Capital League last week after leading his young Wildcat team to a fourth straight state division III state title appearance this past season.
Hill was named Capital League Coach of the Year for the second time in four years, leading fifth seeded Hazen to upsets over Richford and top seeded White River Valley before falling to Thetford Academy in the title game for a second straight season. In his 26 years at the helm of the Wildcat program, Hill has led his teams to the Barre Auditorium 16 times. He has brought six state championships back to Hardwick, along with six state runners-up. The newly turned 50-year-old has already amassed 430 wins in his coaching career, placing him tenth all-time in the state of Vermont. After coaching Wildcat legends Isaiah Baker, Tyler Rivard, and Xavier Hill the last five seasons, Hill developed a young group of juniors and sophomores around lone senior starter Brendan Moodie this past winter. Hazen won 17 games throughout a roller-coaster season that included an impressive win over Lamoille at the start of the year to capture their sixth straight Dave Morse Classic.
Moodie truly had a breakout senior season for Hazen, earning him Capital League Second Team honors. The sharpshooting guard tipped off the season with a career-high 42 points against Peoples Academy (PA) and combined for 92 points and 13 threes made throughout their amazing playoff run. He averaged just under 19 points per game for the Wildcats, scoring 431 points this past season, which is twelfth best all-time in program history. Since transferring from PA is sophomore year, Moodie knocked down 180 career threes and was an 84% free-throw shooter, second all-time to only Isaiah Baker.
First Team honors were dominated by a quintet of 1,000-point career scorers and a future one in PA’s Jack Lafayette. The sophomore South Burlington transfer led the Wolves in scoring this past winter and should be a force in the Capital for years to come. Carter Bruzzese and Carson Cody went down in history as two of the most prolific scorers in Solon history, while leading Montpelier to their fourth straight division two state title last month. Lyndon Institute’s Ethan Lussier and North Country’s Haidin Chilafoux rounded out First Team selections after leading their respective teams in scoring throughout the season. Chilafoux also nabbed Capital League Player of the Year honors, averaging over 25 points per game.
Lamoille’s Azariah Hungerford joined Moodie on the Second Team and Hazen junior Sully Laflam earned Honorable Mention. Laflam had multiple 20 plus point games for the Wildcats, averaging a career-high in points.
“Sully continued to develop throughout the season since all the work he put in this past summer and looked great. Brendan came into the season in phenomenal shape and was stronger physically than he was a year ago. His leadership and play throughout the season was fantastic and this program was lucky to have him,” said Hill.
