It's rare to have a girls' and boys' ice hockey playoff doubleheader against the same school on the same night, but that's what happened to Brattleboro on Feb. 26.
Both Colonels teams made the trip to Stowe Area to play their respective Division II first-round playoff games against the Raiders. At the end of the evening, it was the Colonel girls who moved on with a 4-1 victory while the Colonel boys, the defending state champions, saw their season end with a 5-1 defeat.
• The Colonel girls were seeded ninth with a 3-15 record and got a match-up against the No. 8 Raiders (4-13). Two of Stowe's four wins this season came against the Colonels, whom they beat twice in the span of three days earlier in February, but they could not defeat Brattleboro a third time.
Brattleboro put a tremendous amount of pressure on Stowe goaltender Iris Cloutier with 39 shots on goal. After Stowe's Isabel Donza scored Stowe's only goal in the first period, the Colonels then scored four unanswered goals.
Brattleboro had a 2-1 lead after two periods and finished off the Raiders in the final period when Juliana Miskovich scored on a Brattleboro 5-on-3 power play and Michaela Heiden scored with 45 seconds left.
Miskovich and Jenna Powers each had a goal and an assist for Brattleboro. Sophia Mijijaniec also got a goal and Willow Romo had two assists. Angela Jobin made eight saves in goal to preserve the victory for the Colonels, who will face top-seeded Woodstock in the quarterfinals on March 2.
• The Colonel boys, were seeded 10th and faced the No. 7 Raiders (8-7-3) right after the Colonel girls' victory.
Stowe took control of the game with three goals in the second period. Woody Reichelt scored three goals for the Raiders, and Ashton Tibbits and Aaron Lepikko also scored. Derek Baxter and Adrian Brian each had two assists as the Raiders put 41 shots on Brattleboro goaltender Darek Harvey.
Evan Wright scored Brattleboro's only goal, assisted by Will Taggard. Brattleboro ended its season with a 9-11-1 record.
Girls' basketball
It was an early exit for Bellows Falls, Brattleboro, and Leland & Gray from the state tournament last week as all three schools lost their road playoff games.
• Tenth-seeded Brattleboro had a chance at an upset of seventh-seeded Colchester in their first-round Division I playoff game on Feb. 22, but fell short in a 40-33 loss.
The Colonels used defense to take a 13-6 lead in the first quarter, and led by as many as eight points in the third quarter before Colchester steadied themselves and went on a 14-0 run to take control of the game.
Ryleigh Garrow and Nicole Norton scored 15 and 12 points, respectively, to lead Colchester. Chloe Givens led the Colonels with 10 points, while Brenna Beebe and Kaitlyn Pattison added nine and six points, respectively.
The Colonels ended the season with a 6-15 record, and will lose seniors Givens, Beebe, Kiki McNary, Diamond Bedward, and Katelyn Longe to graduation.
• Fourth-seeded Peoples Academy rolled to a 49-13 win over No. 13 Bellows Falls in a Division III first-round game on Feb. 22.
Peoples had a balanced attack as Shelby Wells had 17 points and four steals, Morgan Reeve had 14 points and four steals, and Mychaela Watson had 10 points, 13 rebounds, and three blocks. Erin Ross and Savannah Sylvester Neal each scored four points for the 3-17 Terriers.
• Seventh-seeded Thetford cruised past No. 10 Leland & Gray, 53-17, in their Division III first-round game on Feb. 23.
Madi Mousley led Thetford with nine points. Maggie Parker scored six points to lead the 8-11 Rebels, while Abby Towle and Hannah Greenwood each had four points.
Boys' basketball
• The playoff season began this week for the boys' teams in Vermont. In Division I, Brattleboro earned the No. 8 seed with a 10-9 record and were scheduled to host No. 9 Mount Mansfield in a first-round game on March 1 at the BUHS gym.
The Colonels finished the regular season last week with a pair of wins and a loss. On Feb. 21, they defeated visiting Mount Anthony, 49-41. On Feb. 24 at Woodstock, Brattleboro eked out a 41-40 win. In the home finale on Feb. 26, they lost to St. Johnsbury, 32-24.
• With a pair of road losses in the final week of the season, Bellows Falls slid to the No. 5 seed in the Division III playoffs. The Terriers will host No. 12 Randolph in a first-round game on March 2 at Holland Gymnasium.
BF enters the playoffs with a 15-5 record, with a 41-40 loss at White River Valley on Feb. 23. The following night, they were beaten by Rivendell, 56-48, as the Raptors completed an undefeated regular season to take the top seed in Division IV.
• Leland & Gray finished the regular season with a pair of losses to end up with a 6-14 record and the No. 14 seed in the Division III playoffs. They will go on the road to take on third-seeded Williamstown in a first-round game on March 2.
The Rebels split a home-and-home series with Mill River last week, with a 52-39 win in Townshend on Feb. 21 and a 53-52 loss in North Clarendon on Feb. 26.
• Twin Valley ended the regular season with a 2-14 record, finishing with 10 straight losses. They are the No. 14 seed in the Division IV playoffs and were scheduled to face No. 3 White River Valley in Royalton for a first-round game on March 1.
Last week, the Wildcats lost at Green Mountain, 71-13, on Feb. 21 and lost their home finale, 48-29, to White River Valley on 48-29.
Bowling
• Last week was a good one for Brattleboro's Lucas Forthofer. After signing a letter of intent on Feb. 24 to compete for Quincy (Ill.) University for its collegiate bowling team, he went on to win the Vermont high school individual bowling championship just two days later.
Forthofer, a lefty, entered the Feb. 26 state tournament in Rutland ranked third in the state with a 196.1 average score per game. He bested Randolph's Howard Stockwell, 189-178, in the final game of the day to win the state individual title.
After three games, the Colonels had four bowlers among the final 16 who would compete head-to-head to decide a winner. In the opening round, Brattleboro's Thomas Bell beat Burlington's Isaiah Hill, Forthofer defeated Colonel teammate Tucker Sargent, and defending individual champion Patrick Kelley of Windsor beat Brattleboro's Kelton Mager.
In the round of eight, Bell lost to Howard Stockwell while Forthofer defeated Kelley to advance to the final four. Forthofer entered the finals with a pin count of 1,155 to earn the top seed that ultimately set up the final with Stockwell.
The team state championships are set to be held on March 5 at Twin City Lanes in Barre.
Nordic skiing
• The Vermont high school Nordic skiing state championships opened up on Feb. 24 at Craftsbury Outdoor Center with the classic portion of the event.
Twin Valley's Luke Rizio, skiing as an independent, continued his dominance when he captured the Division I boys' individual classic championship, finishing in 13 minutes, 40.5 seconds. That was 22 seconds faster than second-place Nico Hochanadel of Burlington.
Tenzin Mathes was Brattleboro's only skier in the top 20, he was 19th in 15:35.7. Other Brattleboro finishers included Magnus von Krusenstiern (23rd,15:51.6), 33. Gabrielle Jeppesen-Belleci (33rd,16:51.9), Oliver Herrick (43rd, 17:50.8), Desmond Longsmith (60th, 19:57.6), and Eben Wagner (61st, 19:57.7).
Mount Anthony won the boys' classic relay on 26:16, with Champlain Valley second and Mount Mansfield third. Brattleboro finished sixth in 35:17.
In the girls' race, Mount Mansfield's Hattie Barker won the individual classic title with a time of 15:51, beating out Burlington's Rosalie Brown and Champlain Valley's Emma Crum.
Brattleboro had two skiers finish in the top 20 - Ava Whitney (14th,18:33.8) and Sylvie Normandeau (18th,19:05). Other finishers for the Colonels included Katherine Normandeau (30th, 20:31.7), Anna Cummings (53rd, 23:40.9), Priya Kitzmiller (57th, 24:38), Addison DeVault (60th, 25:26.2), and Elena Hannigan (69th, 33:12.1).
Burlington won the girls' classic relay in 30:18, ahead of Mount Mansfield and Champlain Valley. Brattleboro was sixth in 35:17.
Heading int0 the freestyle portion of the championships on Feb. 28, which happened at press time at Rikert Nordic Center in Ripton, Burlington (28 points) holds a lead over Mount Mansfield and Champlain Valley in the girls' team scoring, with Mount Anthony close behind in fourth. For the boys, Mount Anthony leads with 32 points, ahead of Champlain Valley and Mount Mansfield.
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 8 of the winter/spring 2022 season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl on Feb. 14 saw Trash-O-Matic (31-9) have a 4-1 week to stay in first place. The Anythings (23-17) had a 5-0 week to move into second. Stayin' Alive and A Rose/Tulips (both 22-18) both went 0-5, while Bowling Stones (also 22-18) went 4-1 to create a three-way tie for third, followed by The 844s (18-22), Slow Movers (16-24), and Good Times (5-35).
Pat Bentrup had the women's high handicap game (247), Diane Cooke had the high handicap series (679). Jerry Dunham had the men's high handicap game (255), while Bob Uccello had the high handicap series (630). The Anythings had the high team handicap game (865) and series (2,519).
In scratch scoring, Warren Corriveau Sr. led the men with a 595 series that featured games of 205 and 187. Chuck Adams had a 556 series with games of 189, 184, and 183. Dunham had a 549 series with a 228. Gary Montgomery had games of 193 and 180, and Fred Bump rolled a 187.
Nancy Dalzell had the women's high scratch series (480) and game (192). Bentrup rolled a 178 game, while Cooke had a 171.