HARDWICK – The Hazen Union boys basketball team took care of business at home against Enosburg last week before falling to undefeated Randolph over the weekend, dropping to the No. 5 spot in the current Division III rankings at 5-3.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Jamison Lamarre dropped a career-high 29 points last Thursday to power the Wildcats to a 66-47 home win over Enosburg. The junior guard canned 5-threes and gave his team a 37-25 lead heading into the break with an unprecedented 18-point second quarter. Senior Sully Laflam added 12 points and five rebounds as Hazen’s lead swelled to 20 with eight minutes to play. Lincoln Hill (10 points) connected twice from long distance, Morgan Michaud scored nine, Ethan Gann pulled down nine boards and Jeter Demers dished out six assists in the win. Grady Gervais (trio of threes) and Austen Wilde led Enosburg with nine points apiece. Gann shut down the Hornet’s leading scorer Sawyer Bentley, holding him to six points on the night. The loss dropped Enosburg to 5-4 on the season.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
Randolph continued its divisional dominance on Saturday, suffocating the Wildcat offense in a 69-58 home win. Jack White and Eli Messier led the Galloping Ghosts with 18 points apiece as they took a 35-30 advantage into the break. Hazen battled through injuries and illness against the Ghosts but a 13-point deficit with eight minutes to play was too much to overcome. Hill knocked down four more threes to finish with a game-high 19 points, Laflam added 16 and Michaud pulled down 16 rebounds in the loss. Lamarre battled through an injury on his shooting hand, finishing with 11 points. Connor Sault connected on four threes to finish the night with 16 points as Randolph improved to 8-0.
photo by Vanessa Fournier
“We were missing Ari Jurkiewicz due to illness and Jamison has a serious bone bruise on his shooting hand. He did his best to gut it out but he just wasn’t himself at all. They are a good team with some huge athletes on their roster. It’s probable the best Randolph team I’ve seen since the 90’s,” said head coach Aaron Hill.
Randolph continues to sit at the top of a loaded Division III bracket and has cemented themselves as real contenders with now double digit wins over the Wildcats and fourth ranked Woodstock. They will get another litmus test matchup this week with a trip to defending champion Thetford Academy. Hazen falls to the fifth seed in the current standings but has faced one of the toughest schedules in the division to date.
The Wildcats traveled to Lake Region on Tuesday and will welcome Harwood to the Cat Den on Thursday night. They’ll get back on the road next Tuesday for a match-up against Lyndon Institute. All home games can be live-streamed on Hardwick Community Television (hctv.us).
