Being the southern-most Division I school in Vermont has long been a problem for Brattleboro in basketball, since with the exception of Mount Anthony and Burr & Burton, all the rest of their competition is located to the north. This means a lot of long bus rides to places such as Burlington, St. Johnsbury, and Rutland.
Logistically, it would be easier to play nearby New Hampshire teams such as Keene, ConVal, or Monadnock, or Massachusetts teams such as Amherst, Greenfield, or Northampton. The Colonels would get a chance to play against strong competition with shorter bus rides.
The problem, said Colonels boys' basketball coach Jason Coplan, is that Massachusetts or New Hampshire teams don't want to play Brattleboro “because there's nothing in it for them. It doesn't help their records for their state tournaments because they don't count wins against out-of-state teams toward their ranking.”
But when the Monadnock Huskies needed to fill out its schedule this season, it turned to Brattleboro and the result was a rare home-and-home series for the Colonels - two games in three nights against a tough opponent, with just one short bus ride to Swanzey. Brattleboro swept the series with a 52-43 win in Swanzey on Dec. 28 and a 58-43 home victory on Dec. 30.
In the Swanzey game, senior guard Cam Frost sank five three-pointers to lead the Colonels with 19 points. Senior forwards Tate Chamberlain and Jody Allembert chipped in with 12 and nine points, respectively.
The game in the BUHS gym was particularly intense, as the raucous near-capacity crowd gave the proceedings a playoff-like feel. Coplan said the Colonels played well on defense, forcing 19 turnovers, but it led to Frost, Chamberlain and senior center Paul McGillion playing with four fouls by the fourth quarter.
Monadnock was equally aggressive on defense as they forced 17 turnovers by the Colonels. Foul trouble caught up with Monadnock in the fourth quarter as two of their starters fouled out and the Colonels went 9-for-12 from the free throw line to secure the win.
Chamberlain was the high scorer with 20 points, while Frost added 18 points and senior forward Tristan Evans scored eight points. The Colonels, now 4-1, start its league season this week with games against South Burlington, Mount St. Joseph, and St. Johnsbury.
Boys' basketball
• Foul trouble in the final quarter was Leland & Gray's undoing in a 61-54 loss to the host Proctor Phantoms on Dec. 20. Accurate free throw shooting by Proctor helped to break open a close game, with Carter Crossman leading the way with 23 points, while freshman Chase Razzanouski had 11 points and 18 rebounds.
Leland & Gray then improved its record to 2-2 with a 53-28 win over West Rutland on Dec. 29. The first week of the new year features a road game against Bellows Falls and a home-and-home series against Arlington.
• Twin Valley picked up a 47-37 road win against the West Rutland Golden Horde on Dec. 20. It was the Wildcats' first win of the season. Liam Wendel scored a game-high 17 points for the Wildcats. Noah Dornburgh added 14 points and Caleb Dupuis chipped in 11 points. David Noel led the Horde with 14 points.
• Bellows Falls lost on the road to Hartford, 67-43, on Dec. 27. Colby Dearborn led the Terriers with 12 points, while Peter Kamel had four points and 14 rebounds and Jamison Nystrom scored nine points and dished out six assists.
Two nights later, BF took care of business with a wire-to-wire 64-39 win over Arlington at Holland Gymnasium. The Terriers took a 22-5 lead in the first nine minutes of the game, and cruised from there. Dearborn had another big night with a game-high 19 points. Nystrom added 11 points, Jake Moore had nine points and blocked three shots and Kamel pulled down eight rebounds for the 2-3 Terriers.
Girls' basketball
• Before the holiday break, Brattleboro put together a good effort in a 55-22 road win over Woodstock on Dec. 21. Mallory Newton led the Colonels with 17 points, Reese Croutworst added 14 points, and Abby Henry chipped in with 10 points.
Unfortunately, the Colonels then got a reality check on what they have to do to be competitive in Division I when perennial powerhouse Champlain Valley came to the BUHS gym on Dec. 27 and completely dominated the hosts in an 80-22 rout. Shelby Companion led CVU with 22 points. Addi Hunter added 16 points, and Elise Berger had five points, six assists, and five steals. Croutworst and Kaitlyn Pattison had six points for the Colonels.
Brattleboro then hosted Essex on Dec. 29 and the result was a 69-41 loss for the Colonels. It was a more competitive contest than the CVU game, as Pattison scored 12 points to lead the 2-3 Colonels and Croutworst and Montana Frehsee added eight apiece.
• Leland & Gray went into the holiday break with a pair of wins. On Dec. 19, the Rebels picked up a 46-39 road win over the Proctor Phantoms on Dec. 19. The Rebels trailed at halftime, 24-21, but put together a strong second half to secure the victory. Maggie Parker led the Rebels with 15 points, while Mary Sanderson added 12 points. Isabel Grab led the Phantoms with 20 points.
Two nights later in Townshend, the Rebels jumped out to a 14-point halftime lead and hung on for a 35-24 win over the Poultney Blue Devils. Samantha Morse led the Rebels with 11 points.
With a 37-30 win at Arlington on Dec. 30, Leland & Gray improved to 7-1 and are ranked second in Division IV.
• Bellows Falls rolled to a 68-10 win over Twin Valley on Dec. 19. Tela Harty scored a game-high 13 points for the Terriers, while Veronica Moore and Izzy Stoodley followed with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Taylor Smart scored four points and Bianca Place added three points for the Wildcats.
BF followed up that effort with a 64-22 win over Mill River on Dec. 21 in North Clarendon. Delaney Lockerby had 14 points and Laura Kamel had 11 points for the Terriers.
The winning streak ended for the Terriers with a 56-42 loss to Poultney on Dec. 27 at Holland Gymnasium. Emily Handley led the Blue Devils with 15 points, all coming on three-pointers. Lockerby was BF's high scorer with nine points, with Nola Sciacca adding eight points.
On Dec. 29 in Hartford, the Terriers lost 57-19. Kamel led BF with 15, Eryn Ross added 10, and Lockerby chipped in seven. Charlotte Jasmin led the Hurricanes with 20 points. BF enters the new year with a 2-4 record.
• Green Mountain dominated from start to finish in a 49-7 win over Twin Valley on Dec. 21. The visiting Chieftains got 18 points and six steals from ninth-grader Colie Roby and 15 points, 13 rebounds, four steals, and three blocks from eighth-grader Callie Spaulding.
Girls' hockey
• It was not the best of home debuts for Brattleboro, as the Burlington-Colchester SeaLakers rolled over the Colonels, 10-0, on Dec. 19 at Withington Rink. The SeaLakers dominated from start to finish, putting 30 shots on the Colonels' goal to take a 6-0 lead after two periods. The highlight of that stretch came in the last 70 seconds of the second period when the SeaLakers scored two shorthanded goals while the Colonels had a 5-on-3 power play.
“They outmuscled us and outskated us,” said Colonels coach Anne Brewer, who is starting her first season behind the Brattleboro bench.
Holley MacLellan led the SeaLakers with three goals. Karissa LeClair added two goals, and Leighton Guyette, Brynna Swift-Herzog, Fiona McHugh, Georgia Wool and Camryn Poulin each scored one goal. Goaltender Olivia Dallamura earned the shutout victory.
Freshman goalie Lakota Offenburger did what she could to keep the Colonels in the game in the face of the SeaLakers offensive onslaught, and Brewer said the rest of her team showed similar determination. “They have good energy and a lot of heart,” Brewer said. “To their credit, they kept working hard out there despite the score.”
Two nights later, things were just as rough for the Colonels with a 9-0 road loss to Woodstock. The Wasps scored five goals in the first period and four more in the second period. Gracelyn Laperle, Hannah Gubbins, Lily Gubbins, and Kassidy Haley all scored twice, and Isabel Konijnenberg had a goal and four assists. Goaltender Meridien Bremel stopped the only two shots she faced to earn the shutout.
The Colonels then picked up their first win of the season on Dec. 28 with a 6-1 victory over Rutland. Brattleboro put 54 shots on goal in an strong effort.
Boys' hockey
• Six different skaters had goals as Mount Mansfield beat Brattleboro, 6-3, on Dec. 19. Aidan Soutiere, Garret Carter, Alex Brown, Alec Spensley, Colby Garrapy, and Owen Jones all scored for Mount Mansfield. Carter had two assists, and Brown, Garrapy, and Jones each got credit for an assist. Declan Heney made 21 saves in goal to earn the victory.
Evan Wright had a pair of goals and Alex Dick added another for the Colonels. Darek Harvey and Matthew Gordon-Macey divvied up the goaltending duties as Harvey made 24 saves and Gordon-Macey had 14 saves.
On Dec. 21 at Withington Rink, the Hartford Hurricanes cruised to a 7-0 win over the Colonels. Ozzie DeFelice and Ezra Mock each scored two goals for Hartford. Nick Daniels, Cavan Benjamin, and Blaine Gour each added a goal and Lochlan Park had three assists. Sean Keliher and Frankie Cushing split time in goal to combine on the shutout victory.
After a week off to digest that loss, the Colonels traveled to Rutland on Dec. 28 and lost 6-0. Rutland dropped down to Division II this season, and the change seems to have done them good as they scored four goals in the second period to end all thoughts of a Brattleboro comeback. Rutland got two goals from Cam Rider, another goal from his brother Colin Rider, and goals from Anthony Rock, Riley Rodrigue, and Aiden Good.
Nordic skiing
• Luke Rizio was a one-person team for Twin Valley last season as he ended up as the Division I boys' individual champion. This season, he's skiing for Mount Anthony, but is still just as good as he was last season.
In the season opening meet on Dec. 22 at the Wild Wings ski area in Peru, Rizio won the boys' 5K race in 11 minutes, 40 seconds, more than a minute ahead of second place finisher James Underwood of Woodstock. Mount Anthony won the boys' meet with 16 points. Woodstock was second with 35.
In a skate race at Woodstock Nordic Center on Dec. 28, Rizio won the boys' race with a time of 10:54 as Mount Anthony had the top four finishers to win the event.
Senior bowling roundup
• The fall/winter season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League ended on Dec. 29 with Good Times (55-35) leapfrogging Keglers 4 (54-36) in the final two weeks to win the season title.
Trash-O-Matic (47.5-42.5) finished third, followed by the Strikers (44.5-45.5), Lucky 7 (44.5-45.5), Old Farts (41-49), Split Happens (40.5-49.5), and Slow Movers (33-57).
In Week 18 action, Diane Cooke had the women's high handicap game (244) and series (675). Pete Cross had the men's high handicap game (256), while Marty Adams had the high handicap series (669). Slow Movers had the high team handicap game (863), while Lucky 7 had the high series (2,501).
In scratch scoring, Chuck Adams led the men with a 622 series games of 226, 205, and 191. Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 603 series that featured games of 223 and 191. John Walker had a 592 series with games of 205 and 202, while Marty Adams had a 567 series with games of 198 and 194, and Gary Montgomery had a 538 series with a 193 game. Cross had a 197 game.
Shirley Aiken had the women's high scratch series (468) and game (182). Nancy Dalzell rolled a 178 and Cooke had a 171 game.