Sharon Acadamy's Lydia Eastman (20) tries to drive past Woodsville's Emily Prest in Woodsville, N.H., on Monday, Dec.17,2018.(Valley News-Rick Russell)Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com.
Sharon Acadamy's Lydia Eastman (20) tries to drive past Woodsville's Emily Prest in Woodsville, N.H., on Monday, Dec.17,2018.(Valley News-Rick Russell)Copyright Valley News. May not be reprinted or used online without permission. Send requests to permission@vnews.com. Credit: Valley News — Rick Russell

Woodsville — Don’t look now, but coach Russ Wilcox has the Woodsville High girls basketball team humming right along near the top of NHIAA Division IV.

The Engineers made it five wins in five starts on Monday night, getting career-high performances from a pair of freshmen in a 64-16 defeat of Sharon Academy at the Woodsville Community Center. The win pushed Woodsville (5-0) into a tie atop the division with Farmington, with three other undefeated squads a half-game back.

First-year player Mackenzie Kingsbury led the charge with a 16-point outing, backed by 14 points from Emily Prest. Olivia Sarkis added nine points for the Engineers, and freshman Emily Farr also had a career-best of seven points in support.

“We’re off to a good start; we’ve yet to play a team with a loss,” Woodsville coach Russ Wilcox said. “We put five freshmen on the floor, and they combined to score 36 points. They played well; they played a lof of minutes tonight. The future looks awfully bright when you can put five freshmen on the floor.”

The Engineers held the young Phoenix (1-1) to a single point in the first quarter and never allowed the visitors to hit double digits in any period. Sharon is just two games into a return to varsity status after playing a junior varsity schedule last year due to low numbers and limited experience.

Olivia Sanford paced Sharon with six points.

“It’s still early for us,” TSA coach Gregg Nalette said. “We learned some things that we can continue to work on. Woodsville is a pretty good team.”

The Phoenix play a tournament at Green Mountain Union High School this week, starting tonight with a date against Mount St. Joseph.

Woodsville pays Groveton a visit on Wednesday in its final D-IV league game before the holiday break.

MVCS 39, Stowe 24

Stowe, Vt. — The Eagles (4-0) turned up the offensive and defensive play after halftime to pull away to their fourth straight win.

“I think we were only up by four to begin the second half,” noted Mid Vermont Christian coach Chris Goodwin, whose squad went into the break with a 20-16 lead. “We got much better looks I nthe second half. We move the ball better, and our defense was more active.”

Hayley Goodwin led the charge for MVCS with 20 points, and Kyla McCoy contributed 13.

Mid Vermont hosts Blue Mountain tonight.

Mount Royal 53Pittsfield 10

Sunapee — Alexis Matte had 25 points to lead the Knights (2-2) over the Panthers.

Matte drained four 3-pointers on her way to a game-high total. Mount Royal led, 30-2, at halftime. Sophie LaRose added three buckets from beyond the arc and had 16 points.

The Knights will play in a holiday tournament at Epping High starting on Dec. 28.

Windsor 61, Mill River 35

Windsor — The Yellowjackets opened on a 14-2 run and cruised over Mill River.

Olivia Rockwood had 21 points to lead the way for Windsor. Angelina Bigwood had nine. Evelyn Page, Adi Prior and Reese Perry each added seven points.

“It was a good solid win; everybody contributed,” Windsor coach Bruce Mackay said. “We did some nice things with transition defense and offense and finished a little better than in the first couple games (of the season).”

Windsor (3-0) will host Springfield on Friday night.

Thetford 61White River Valley 27

South Royalton — The Panthers (2-1) raced out to a 20-7 lead following a fast-paced first quarter and never looked back against the Wildcats (0-2).

Namya Benjamin led a balanced Thetford effort with 12 points. Kiana Johnson added 10 points and Grace Davis had nine. Emi Vaughan and Casey MacVeagh each added eight points.

Sarah Howe (six points) and Hannah White (five) paced the WRV offense.

“They’re just much quicker up and down the floor than we are. We competed hard and played with them at times,” Wildcats coach Tim Perreault said.

The Wildcats play at Northfield on Friday. Thetford hosts Hartford on Saturday.

Boys Basketball

Websterville 55Rivendell 51

Orford — Zach Gould had 33 points, but the Raptors came up just short against Websterville to drop to 0-3 on the young season.

Gould contributed all but 18 points for Rivendell, which was outscored, 13-0, from the free-throw line. Isaac Martel added eight points.

The Raptors are off until a Dec. 29 visit to Oxbow.

Pittsfield 68Mount Royal 56

Sunapee — The Knights could not keep pace with the Panthers, dropping to 0-4 to start the year.

Andrew Normandin had 16 points for Mount Royal, which opened the game on an 8-2 run and led, 21-20, after the first half. Pittsfield took control in the second quarter, outscoring the Knights, 18-6, to take the lead for good.

Louis Larosiliere added 15 points for Mount Royal. Mateo Hoffman had four 3-pointers and 14 points. Brendan Moorehouse chipped in with nine points.

Pittsfield shot an impressive 21-for-24 from the free-throw line, outscoring the Knights (8-for-12) from the charity stripe. Mount Royal is back in action at the Keene State College Invitational starting on Dec. 27.

Men’s Basketball

Green’s Barry Honored

Hanover — Dartmouth junior sharpshooter Brendan Barry is the Ivy League’s men’s basketball player of the week.

Barry received the nod on Monday for his play in the Big Green’s three-win week. Much of his scoring came from 3-point land, where the guard hit 16 of 29 attempts to take the national lead in long-distance accuracy (55.8 percent).

The New Jersey native is averaging 21.3 points, 5 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game for Dartmouth, which visits Bryant on Friday morning.