Rivendell's Casey Ghio.
Rivendell's Casey Ghio.

Orford — The Rivendell Academy girls basketball team finally won a game for its new coach. Defense and rebounding had a lot to do with it.

New coach Dennis Fitzgerald got to put a check in the win column for the first time on Thursday night as his Raptors topped rebuilding Sharon, 49-11. Casey Ghio led the way with a season-high 11 points for Rivendell (1-8), which blanked the Phoenix (1-9) in each of the first two quarters.

“They really played with a lot of intensity tonight, better than they had all year,” Fitzgerald said. “The teamwork was awesome. And we finally outrebounded somebody, which is incredible for us. I’m just happy how they played together as a team.”

Emily Hebb also had a season-high of eight points for Rivendell, which picked up seven points from Adele Tilden and six from Jenna Gilbert, which matched her best for the campaign. Rivendell heads to Twinfield on Wednesday.

Sharon got a team-topping four points from Emma Foster. The Phoenix is off until visiting VPA Division IV-leading Blue Mountain on Jan. 25.

MVCS 50, Poultney 29

Quechee — With the Goodwin sisters leading the way, the Eagles (8-2) kept pace with first-place Blue Mountain atop VPA Division IV.

Sydney Goodwin had 15 points, Hayley Goodwin netted 13 and Kyla McCoy hit for 12 for Mid Vermont Christian. The Blue Devils (0-10) stayed close through one quarter only to have the Eagles outscore them, 33-15, in the middle periods to pull away.

Woodsville 46Newmarket 23

Newmarket, n.h. — With Emily Farr providing her best numbers of the season, the Engineers (9-1) rolled to another victory to stay near the top of NHIAA Division IV.

Farr offered a season-high eight points to back the 16-point effort of teammate Olivia Sarkis. Morgan Wagstaff added six points for Woodsville in a game moved up 24 hours as a precaution against inclement weather.

White River Valley 51Twinfield 48

Plainfield, Vt. — The Wildcats (6-4) bolted to a double-digit lead, then had to sweat out a fourth quarter in which the Trojans nearly came all the way back.

With Sarah Howe in foul trouble in the second half, sister Sophie Howe stepped up with a game-high 18 points for the visitors. Hannah White added 11, and inside forces Macy Carbino and Toni Turner both had eight.

“We’re a young team trying to fall apart, but luckily the clock went out before we did,” WRV coach Tim Perreault said. “I’m proud of how they held in there.”

The Wildcats head to Arlington on Tuesday.

Montpelier 48, Oxbow 42

Bradford, Vt. — After being stifled over the game’s first half, the Solons (3-6) exploded for 22 third-quarter points to reverse a 10-point halftime deficit.

Bella Luhr scored 10 of her game-high 13 points in Montpelier’s third-period eruption as the visitors built a 35-29 advantage. The Solons played Oxbow evenly the rest of the way, with Azwayla Taylor finishing with 11 points and Mary Curran adding nine.

Lauren Wright led the O’s with 11 points, followed by nine from Kaysea Neil and seven from Tiffany Longmoore. Oxbow entertains Lamoille on Saturday.

Men’s Basketball

Colby-Sawyer 87, Regis 67

New London — Jourdain Bell hit eight of 12 shots from the field for a game-high 18 points in the Chargers’ latest Great Northeast Athletic Conference victory.

Bell moved up three spots on the all-time Colby-Sawyer scoring list with his effort, now ranking 10th with 1,339 career points. Junior Patrick Coffey had 17 points for the Chargers, leaving him just 12 shy of 1,000 for his career. Dana Bean added 12 points, 10 rebounds and a career-high six blocked shots.

Colby-Sawyer (3-1, 9-7) hosts Albertus Magnus on Saturday.

College Basketball

Dartmouth’s Daigle, Gavitt Among Ivy League Legends

Princeton, n.j. — Jayne Daigle Jones and Dave Gavitt have been selected to represent Dartmouth in the third Ivy League Legends of Basketball induction class.

Each of the league’s eight schools gets one male and one female honoree, people who embraced the pursuit of excellence in academics and athletics and made a lasting impact on their basketball programs, schools, communities and professions.

The 16 honorees will be recognized on March 16 during the Ivy League men’s and women’s basketball tournaments in New Haven, Conn.