-When a team hasn’t won a game all season, success is measured by the little things.
The Brattleboro girls’ hockey team lost to Rutland, 5-1, on Feb. 4 at Withington Rink, but the Bears put together one of their stronger efforts of the season.
Rutland entered the game with a three-game winning streak, and if they thought the Bears would be a pushover, they soon found out that they were going to have to work for their fourth straight victory.
Senior defenseman Piper Newman got Rutland’s first goal at 4:22 of the first period with an unassisted drive from the slot that whistled past the shoulder of Bears junior goaltender Dakota VonFeldt. Rutland kept the pressure on, but VonFeldt — who made 42 saves in this game — kept her team in contention.
Junior co-captain Jaidyn Denny tied the game at 9:22 of the first period when she took a centering pass from eighth grader Perry Evans and slipped the puck past Rutland’s eighth grader in goal, Nahla Hollinger.
Brattleboro suddenly had the momentum, and got a golden chance near the end of the period when they had a 5-on-3 power play after a pair of Rutland penalties for tripping in the final two minutes. Rutland killed off the penalties, one of which carried over into the second period. Denny, Evans, and ninth grader Ali Cleveland all had shots on goal, but Hollinger turned them aside.
Rutland then took control with a pair of even-strength goals. The go-ahead goal came from sophomore Peyton Rider, assisted by junior Kinsley Rodrigue and sophomore Isabell Bedard, at 4:45 of the second period. After Rutland killed off another penalty, eighth grader Anna Cooley scored, assisted by Rodrigue, at 11:32.
After failing to score on three power plays, Rutland got its chance when Bears eighth grader Laila Abdul Sater drew a penalty at 1:38 of third period. Eighth grader Madison Bedard got the power play goal, assisted by Newman and sophomore Maeve Saunders, about a minute later. Rutland finished the scoring when junior Jordan Bixby got the fifth goal, assisted by eighth grader Mackenzie Corbin.
“Our entire team today came prepared to play, and I think that they really were focused from the start,” said Brattleboro head coach Alyssa Leonard after the game. “That helps them during the first period to play calmly and play the way that they know how to play.”
The problem, however, is that the Bears are a young team with only one senior and five juniors. They are definitely a work in progress. Leonard admitted that while the team has improved its conditioning, “I’m still seeing a little bit of no gas left in the tank by the end of the third period. It’s just something that we’re going to have to work on for the rest of the season.”
These two teams will meet again in Rutland on Feb. 21 in the final road game of the season for the Bears. The hope is that the lessons learned from this game might lead to a better outcome in the rematch.
Harris Hill Ski Jump is this weekend
• It may be an Olympic year, but don’t think this means that the 104th edition of Harris Hill Ski Jump in Brattleboro on Feb. 14 and 15 won’t feature top-notch competition.
More than 50 international and U.S. elite ski jumpers and Nordic combined athletes will be at the 90-meter jump on Cedar Street in what organizers call “a rare convergence of international rivalries and up and coming Olympic-level talent” trying to beat the hill record of 104 meters.
Slovenia’s Urh Rošar returns to Harris Hill seeking a historic third victory in the Fred Harris Memorial Tournament on Sunday, a win that would permanently retire the Winged Ski Trophy under long-standing rules at Harris Hill. Standing in his way is teammate and close friend Ozbej “OB” Kotnik, the 2023 champion, who is determined to keep the trophy in circulation. With the trophy retirement rule changing after 2026, organizers say this weekend could mark the final opportunity ever to retire the Winged Ski Trophy.
This competition is also one of only two North American qualifying events for the FIS Nordic Junior World Ski Jump Championships next month in Lillehammer, Norway. Following January’s qualifier in Ishpeming, Michigan, Harris Hill represents the last chance for junior athletes to secure selection.
Harris Hill has long been a proving ground for athletes who go on to World Championships and the Winter Olympics. At this year’s Milan/Cortina Games, four U.S. athletes competing in ski jumping and Nordic combined previously competed at Harris Hill, including Niklas Malacinski, Annika Belshaw, Kevin Bickner, and Tate Frantz.
Tickets are still available for this weekend’s competition. Find out more at harrishillskijump.com/schedule-information.
Boys’ basketball
• Twin Valley is making a strong case for being the team to beat in the Division IV playoffs. In their last three games against higher division opponents, the Wildcats beat visiting Mill River 81-52 on Jan. 31, lost 82-76 at Woodstock on Feb. 2, and beat Springfield 64-61 in Whitingham on Feb. 6 to improve to 12-3.
The Brown brothers continue to lead the way. Against Mill River, Brayden Brown scored 30 points and Landon Brown added 28 points. Brayden and Landon followed that with 35 and 30 points, respectively, against Woodstock. Landon scored 22 points and Brayden had 21 in the win against Springfield.
• Logan Waite and Hudson Smith each scored 19 points as Brattleboro beat Burr & Burton, 63-51, at the BUHS gym on Feb. 5. Noah Moore and Kaden Cole chipped in 10 and nine points, respectively. Along with an 86-62 loss to Hartford on Feb. 2, the Bears ended the week at 4-9.
• Jacob Kissell’s game-winning free throw in the final minute gave Bellows Falls a 52-51 victory over Otter Valley at Holland Gymnasium on Jan. 31. Kissell led the 4-6 Terriers with 14 points.
• Despite a 21-point effort by Spencer Claussen, Leland & Gray lost at Proctor, 56-45, on Feb. 2 to fall to 3-11 on the season.
Girls’ basketball
• Avery Maxfield scored 21 points and Abby Nystrom added 16 points as Bellows Falls rallied to beat the Twin Valley Wildcats, 65-41, at Holland Gymnasium on Feb. 2. Kate Oyer led the Wildcats with 19 points.The Terriers then defeated visiting Woodstock, 52-43, on Feb. 4 to improve their record to 12-3.
• Brattleboro has been a strong defensive team all season, and the Bears turned in one of their best efforts in a 32-25 win over Burr & Burton on Feb. 3 to complete a season sweep of the Bulldogs. Reese Croutworst provided most of the offense for the Bears with 20 points.With a 65-31 home win over Mount Anthony on Feb. 4, the Bears improved to 7-9 on the season.
• After the BF loss, Twin Valley beat Mill River, 52-43 on Feb. 5 to even their record at 7-7.
• Leland & Gray lost to Long Trail School, 39-13, on Feb. 3, and 57-27 to Poultney on Feb. 7 to fall to 1-15.
Ice hockey
• The struggles continue for the 1-11-1 Brattleboro boys with losses to Milton (6-2 on Jan. 31), Middlebury (7-1 on Feb. 4), and North Country (5-1 on Feb. 7).
McCarthy now MLB draft-eligible
• Alex Speier of The Boston Globe reported on Feb. 1 that Vermont Academy pitcher Kaiden McCarthy recently reclassified to join VA’s graduating class of 2026, thus making him eligible this year for the Major League Baseball draft.
The 17-year-old righthander from Chester, who has a commitment to the University of Tennessee, has been on the radar of major league scouts for the past year or so.
“Though just 6 feet tall, McCarthy is strong and repeats his delivery well to show impressive strike-throwing ability,” wrote Speier. “He tops out at 96-97 m.p.h., has a four- and two-seamer, impressive curveball, and changeup.”
Speier called McCarthy “a strong candidate to be taken on Day 1 of the draft. If that happens and he’s selected in the first three rounds, McCarthy would become the highest pick ever out of Vermont.”
Senior bowling roundup
• Week 5 of the winter/spring season of the Brattleboro Senior Bowling League at Brattleboro Bowl Feb. 5 saw Wayne’s World and Bad Boys (both 17-8) tied for first place, followed by Strikers (15-10), Slo Movers (14-11), Lucky 7 and Bowling Stones (both 13-12), Spare Time and Three Strikes (both 10-15), Serious (9-16), and Candy Men (7-18).
Candida Wall had the women’s high handicap game (230) and Vikki Butynski had the high handicap series (651). Jerry Dunham had the men’s high handicap game (266) and Mike Pavlovich had the high handicap series (737). Three Strikes had the high team handicap game (886) and series (2,534).
Pavlovich had the men’s high scratch series (634) with games of 224, 216, and 194, while Robert Rigby had a 626 series with games of 238 and 211. Warren Corriveau Sr. had a 617 series with games of 232 and 204, and Peter Deyo had a 610 series with games of 237 and 204. John Walker had a 565 series with a 214 game, Milt Sherman had a 550 series with a 191 game, Gary Montgomery had a 516 series with a 200 game, and Dunham rolled a 194.
Nancy Dalzell had the women’s high scratch series (450) and game (173). Carol Gloski had a 168 game, Debbie Kolpa had a 163 game, and Shirley Aiken rolled a 162.
Randolph T. Holhut, deputy editor of this newspaper, has written this column since 2010 and has covered sports in Windham County since the 1980s. Readers can send him sports information at news@commonsnews.org.
This Sports column by Randolph T. Holhut was written for The Commons.