Local Roundup: Rivendell Boys Get Back at Rival Thetford

Thetford — The Rivendell Academy boys basketball team felt humiliated in the aftermath of a 30-point loss to rival Thetford earlier this season.

Atonement came Saturday as the Raptors excelled defensively in a 42-41 win over the Panthers in Thetford.

“We had a good game plan to stop their guards and played solid help defense,” said Rivendell coach Jeff Huntington, whose team avenged December’s 66-36 defeat.

“They embarassed us at home, and we also had a tough loss on Monday (56-53 at Woodsville). We needed this game.”

Zach Gould and Owen Pelletier scored 13 points each for the Raptors (5-4).

Thetford’s Owen Deffner scored 10 and Connor Brown had eight for the Panthers (2-8), who also played strong defensively and had a chance to win on the final shot.

“We forced a turnover and called timeout with 15 seconds left, but we couldn’t get the shot off that we wanted,” said Thetford coach Jason Gray. “We ended up shooting a 3 and couldn’t get it to fall. Overall, it was probably our best defensive game of the season, but Rivendell is much improved.”

Gould sank five of six free throws and Noah Martel played strong defensively for Rivendell, which has a rematch with Woodsville on Monday at home.

Thetford hosts Lamoille on Tuesday.

Sharon 64, Chelsea 44

Chelsea — The Phoenix outscored the Red Devils, 19-3, in the first quarter and held the Red Devils at bay from there.

Harvey Kelley scored 26 points, Sam Knoerlein had 15 and Fisher Kelley and Cordell Benjamin both had eight for Sharon (6-3).

Benjamin added 11 rebounds and six blocks filling in for injured starter Billy Connelli (ankle), who was hurt during Thursday’s win over Blue Mountain.

“(Benjamin) was huge inside for us,” said Sharon coach Blake Fabrikant.

Jake Colby scored 18 points and Shawn King had 10 for Chelsea.

Sharon visits Craftsbury on Monday for its fourth game in six days.

South Royalton 61
Cabot 28

Cabot, Vt. — Nicholas Howe (32 points) topped the 30-point mark for the seventh time this season as the Royals rolled against the Huskies.

Zeb Perreault added 10 for South Royalton, which led 34-17 in rebounds.

The Royals host Whitcomb next Saturday.

U-32 60, Hartford 49

East Montpelier, Vt. — Trailing throughout, the Hurricanes (4-4) climbed back into a 44-44 tie with three minutes to play before being outscored 16-5 the rest of the way.

The Raiders improved to 7-3.

It was only the third game since Jan. 6 for Hartford, which has had multiple games postponed due to weather over the last several weeks.

“We really haven’t played enough lately to stay sharp,” said Harford coach Steve Landon. “U-32 has a strong program. (Many of) their kids play basketball year-round, so for us to claw back, I thought, was a positive sign.”

Triston Potter and Austin Gaudette each scored 10 for the Canes, while Hunter Gaudette (six points) and Connor Chandler had quality minutes off the bench.

Hartford visits Brattleboro on Tuesday.

Arlington 77, Whitcomb 24

Arlington, Vt. — The undermanned Hornets fell to 1-8.

Colby Washburn scored 11 points for Whitcomb, which is missing injured starters Zak Gillette (knee), Isaac Hodgdon (anle) and Ambrode Wigglesworth (finger) as well as Luke Decato.

Whitcomb hosts Wiliamstown on Tuesday.

Girls Basketball

Newport 48, Monadnock 36

Newport — On Friday night, the Tigers (3-6 NHIAA Division III, 5-7 overall) played a strong second half while handing the Huskies (11-1 D-III) their first league loss.

“Our defense played exceptional, and we did a good job keeping the turnovers down on offense,” said Newport coach Ross Dole, whose team snapped a four-game losing streak.

Kyrstin Kibbey scored 17 points and Selena Coronis had 12 for Newport, which trailed, 20-16, at halftime before doubling up Monadnock in the second half, 32-16.

The Tigers appear to have the Huskies’ number, having also knocked them off 41-40 in a mid-December holiday tournament clash. Newport visits Stevens on Monday.

Boys Hockey

Hanover 3, Bishop Guertin 2

West Lebanon — Jonathan Goff factored in every score, finishing with what Hanover coach Dick Dodds called “our prettiest goal of the season,” as the Marauders prevailed at Campion Rink.

Hanover (5-3, 8-4) took a 2-0 lead in the first period on scores from Goff and Will Smith, the latter a power-play conversion on passes from Jake Acker and Goff. BG tied the game by the third period, but Goff scored on a tic-tac-toe play with Jensen Dodge and Acker, drilling home the winner with 3:52 to go.

“This was a nice signature win,” Dodds said. “Now we’ve beaten Concord and Guertin this year, and they were supposedly two of the top three, Bedford being the other. We can play with anybody. If we stick to our systems and our game, we have the opportunity to win every single game.”

Gabe Loud stopped 17 shots in the Hanover net. The Marauders visit Exeter on Wednesday.

Portsmouth-Newmarket 5 Lebanon-Stevens 3

West Lebanon — The Clippers tied the game, 2-2, with a goal that beat the second-period horn, continuing their momentum with two goals in 27 seconds early in the third to pull away from the Raiders (4-6 NHIAA Division II, 5-7 overall).

“We played not to lose instead of playing to win,” said Lebanon-Stevens coach Gary Smith. “For the first time this year, we gave up a goal and let it get to us. We were not mentally tough today.”

Nate Gariepy had two goals and an assist for the Raiders, the first a first-period power-play goal and the second on a breakaway to give the Raiders a 2-1 lead.

Ian Garland added a goal and an assist, and Nate Damren had an assist for the Raiders.

Jordan Hammond made 14 saves for Lebanon-Stevens, which hosts Goffstown on Monday.

Kimball Union 4Stanstead College 2

Meriden — The Wildcats improved to 21-3-1 with a win over the squad from southern Quebec.

J.D. Caras, Roope Hivonen, Andranik Armstrong and Mike Lombardi all scored for the Cats, while goalie Hugo Turcotte played a strong game, turning away a Stanstead breakaway to set up Lombardi’s goal.

The Wildcats host Phillips Exeter on Wednesday.

Girls Hockey

Lebanon-Stevens 4Souhegan 3

West Lebanon — Elizabeth Jones scored the winner with 52 seconds left on a feed from Isabella Harriman as the Raiders improved to 3-4.

“It was a nice pass out of the defsnive zone and a hard shot,” said Lebanon-Stevens coach Brad Shaw. “It found its way in.”

Grace Lindsay scored two goals with an assist and Harriman and Jones each finished with a goal and an assist for the Raiders, which trailed 3-2 entering the third and tied it on Lindsey’s second goal.

“It was good game, a lot of back-and-forth play,” Shaw said.

Halle Drew made 13 saves for Lebanon-Stevens, who due to midterm exams don’t face off again until Jan. 30 at Concord.

Woodstock 4, Missisquoi 2

Highgate, Vt. — The top-ranked Wasps improved to 8-2-1 with a win over the third-place Thunderbirds.

Four players scored for Woodstock: Sadie Kuhn (from Lauren Forgione), Hannah Coates (from Hannah Milstone), Miranda Johnson (unassisted) and Anna Hepler (empty net).

Annabelle Lessard made 18 saves for Woodstock, which visits Rice on Wednesday in a battle of the top two teams in Vermont Division II.

Rice 1, Hartford 0

South Burlington, Vt. — The Green Knights (8-2-1) kept pace with Woodstock atop Vermont Division II.

Rice scored 4:30 into the game and from there peppered Hurricanes netminder Maggie Gilman (39 saves). The Knights finished with a 40-2 shots-on-goal advantage.

“We spent most of the game in our defensive zone,” said Hartford coach Marc Gattie. “There weren’t a lot of scoring opportunities.”

The Canes (3-5-3) look to bounce back Wednesday at Harwood.

Kimball Union 5, Hebron 1

Hebron, Maine — Molly Flanagan scored twice as the Wildcats improved to 10-3-1.

Mikah Baptiste had a goal and assist and Lexi Nottke notched a pair of helpers for Kimball Union.

Annie McKeown and Mia Brown each had a goal and Taylor Dudek and Molly Davis each had an assist for the Wildcats.

Seana Perkins played a strong game defensively for the Wildcats, who visit rival Holderness on Wednesday.

Nordic Skiing

Raiders, Marauders Visit Souhegan

Bedford, n.h. — Hanover’s Arturo Johnson placed fifth overall for the boys and the Marauders’ Megan Smith was sixth for the girls in an elimination tournament at Legacy Park.

The day began with a 1-kilometer sprint, the top 32 for each gender qualifying for the four-round tourney.

For the boys, Johnson, (fifth), Daniel Bandler (12th), Glen Passow (13th), Diego Aspinwall (22nd) and Caffrey Fielding (27th) qualified for Hanover, along with Lebanon’s Eli Weitzman (seventh), Owen Johnstone (10th), Luke Sandmann (18th), Jacob Willeman (26th) and Cooper Bourne (30th).

In the preliminary girls race, Lebanon’s Maria Goodwin (12th), Bri Hibner (14th), Allison Carl (20th) and Ashlyn Taber (31st) all advanced with Hanover’s Smith (seventh), Shannon Walsh (19th) and Teresa Snyder (25th).

From there, Weitzman, Johnstone, Willeman, Johnson and Bandler all reached the boys quarterfinal, with Johnson and Johnstone advancing to the semis and then competing in the four-man consolation round of the finals (vying for spots 5-8). Johnson won that race to place fifth overall; Johnstone came in last for eighth.

For the girls, Goodwin, Hibner and Smith reached the quarters and Smith reached the semis and consolation round of the finals, placing second in the latter for sixth overall.

Wrestling

Newport 2-1 at Home

Newport — The Tigers beat Franklin (72-6) and Nashua North (66-6) while falling to Exeter (57-13) in a four-team match.

“Winning two out of three duals this weekend is great for our team,” said Mascoma coach Cole Boone. “All of our guys are continuing to wrestle well and implement what we’ve been working on in practice during competition.”

Tyler Sharron won three matches for the Tigers, two at 160 pounds via pin and forfeit, respectively, and one via points at 170.

Brenden Halleck (138) and Curtis Volger (152) both won twice via pin, while Gavin Lovely (182) and Caleb Palmer (120) each won once via pin and once by forfeit.

T.J. Hubert (126), Mike Wilkinson (132), Mike Tremblay (195) and Cameron Hall (220) all won twice via forfeit, while John Hogan (170) won a match via pin, Matt Hennig (160) won once via decision and Dylan Palmer (145) won once via forfeit.

Newport wrestles at John Stark on Wednesday in a three-team match that also includes Pelham.

Bowling

Career Day for
Windsor’s LaBarron

Randolph — Yellowjacket senior senior Brandyn LaBarron bowled a career-best 235, then topped that with a 255 during the qualifying round as the Jacks placed fourth at Randolph.

The third seed after qualifiers, Windsor fell to South Burlington in the first Baker round in two games, 210-157 and 195-165, before falling in two games to the host Galloping Ghosts, 156-148 and 176-139, in the third-place match.

Troy McCabe (181, 147) and Rayce Gilbert (149, 140) also bowled strong games for the Yellowjackets, who bowl at Brattleboro on Saturday.

Hartford Third At Springfield

Springfield, Vt. — The Hurricanes fell in two games to Brattleboro during a Baker semifinal, 119-11 and 144-97, to place third in a three-team match.

Joey Raymond bowled a high of 193 during the qualifying round for Hartford, which travels to Lyndon next Saturday.

SoRo Third at Essex

Colchester, Vt. — The Royals edged Enosburg Falls in three games during in the Baker round to place third in a four-team match hosted by Essex.

During the preliminary round, Ethan Britch bowled a high score of 135 and Phoenix Russell rolled a 121 for the Royals.

South Royalton visits Lyndon next Saturday.