ORFORD — A new offensive plan of attack proved to be just the ticket for the Rivendell Academy girls basketball team. The Raptors had visiting Green Mountain’s number on Saturday afternoon — one that began with a 3 — to pull away for a 42-23 Southern Vermont League win over the Chieftains.
Raptors coach Dennis Fitzgerald installed what he called a “five-out offense” during the week, with the hope of opening up outside shots for a team that hadn’t had much success in drawing fouls this season. It worked well, with Rivendell (4-7) going a respectable 6-for-19 from 3-point land en route to a solid victory.
“We didn’t have a post player that was significant … so we just decided to just see if we could get an inside-out game going,” Fitzgerald said. “I thought it went very well. We were more patient that we had been in the past. We were throwing the ball around, with eight or 10 passes before we took a shot. That’s great.”
Adele Tilden had 13 points while Cora Day and Savannah Gray each had eight for the Raptors. Day had two of Rivendell’s 3-pointers, and four other players hit one apiece.
The Raptors host West Rutland on Monday.
HYDE PARK, Vt. — Grace Davis and Casey MacVeagh, with 12 points each, led a balanced scoring attack for the Panthers (13-2).
Kelsey Smith added nine points, Emma Colby had eight and Emi Vaughan seven. Nine different Panthers scored.
“We are slowly coming together for the playoffs,” said Thetford coach Eric Ward, who praised the effort of Namya Benjamin, who came off the bench with four points and 12 rebounds. “We did some decent things today. Today Lamoille played us hard and came after us defensively, something most teams have not done against us.”
Thetford goes to Randolph on Friday
TOWNSHEND, Vt. — The Wildcats improved to 10-4 with the road win.
Sarah Howe led WRV with 12 points. Sophie Howe and Sylvie Coltey had seven each and Chelsea Trask added six points.
Despite an 18-2 lead after one period and 28-4 at the break, WRV coach Tim Perreault said his team was a little rusty at the start.
“We had a hard time getting going but they kept pushing and pushing and we were able to coast after that,” Perreault said.
The Wildcats travel to Bellows Falls on Monday.
MORETOWN, Vt. — The Olympians were down only four points at halftime before Harwood won the second half, 34-15, to pull away for the win.
Emma Parkin led Oxbow with eight points. Arianna Bolles had six and Tiffany Longmoore had five points.
Oxbow (9-4) is home on Wednesday against Williamstown.
QUECHEE — The Bucks overpowered the Eagles (5-7) in the first of two meetings over a four-day span.
Hunter Cooper and Cade Paquette led the way for Mid Vermont Christian with eight points each. Abel Goodwin produced seven points, and Stan Nelson contributed six.
The teams stage a rematch in Wells River, Vt., on Tuesday.
WEST LEBANON — Too many penalties doomed the Raiders, who forged a 1-1 tie early in the second period but lost for the fourth time in five games.
Dover, 7-5-0 in state play, scored the first period’s lone goal but Lebanon answered 41 seconds into the middle stanza when Andrew Duany tallied off assists by Jon Cloud and Joe Roberts.
Four minutes later, however, Duany committed a major boarding foul, and the Green Wave forged a 2-1 lead while a man up. A Will McGee cross-check later in the period forced the hosts’ penalty-killing unit back onto the ice, wearing down their energy and playing havoc with line combinations.
“The (major) penalty obviously killed us and then we took another one, and it felt like we were shorthanded the whole second period,” said Lebanon coach Jim Damren, whose team is 3-9-0 overall and 3-7-0 in NHIAA play. “We’re not deep enough for the wrong guys to be in the penalty box. It’s hard to overcome, and we have to play with more discipline.”
Dover went up, 3-1, with three minutes remaining in the second period and pushed its lead to 4-1 with three minutes to play. Lebanon’s Brian Daly closed the scoring a minute later with assists to Tristan Ouelette and Duany.
Toby Cromwell made 23 saves for the Raiders, who had 27 shots and host Kingswood on Monday.
— Tris Wykes
WEST LEBANON — The Marauders figured to be in for a long night after outshooting Salem, 12-4, in the first period only to find the score in favor of the visitors, 1-0.
“We had some great opportunities, but just couldn’t convert,” Hanover coach Dick Dodds said. “We weren’t the same in the second and third as we were in the first. And we didn’t have a lot of puck luck.”
Dodds praised the play of defenders Jack Gardner and Nicholas Lee. Hanover (9-5-0 overall, 7-4-0 NHIAA) hits the road to face Concord on Wednesday.
NEW HAMPTON, N.H. — The Wildcats overcame a two-goal deficit in the third period, tied the game with a minute left in regulation and then won it on Sullivan Mack’s fourth goal of the game 34 seconds into overtime.
KUA pulled its goalie for an extra skater late in the third period and Tomas Mazura scored to tie the game, 6-6.
Mack and fellow senior Andrew Noel opened the scoring in the first period, but New Hampton scored twice to tie it up after one. The Huskies took their first two-goal lead, 4-2, on two powerplays before KUA’s Donte Pierre got the Wildcats back within one. A late goal in the second put New Hampton up, 5-3, after two periods.
Mack scored twice in the first four minutes of the third period to tie the game, but New Hampton went ahead, 6-5, with six minutes left.
Tomas Mazura added three assists. Teddy Griffin, Zach Whitehead, Luca Fantilli and Adam Fantilli each tallied two assists.
KUA (20-5-1) hosts Phillips Andover on Wednesday.
MONTPELIER — The Wasps (11-2-2) got goals from seven different players in their latest victory.
Owen Coates had a two-goal, one-assist night and Andrew Gubbins scored once with three helpers for the Wasps. Field Willis (assist), Chase Christiansen, Riley Shepherd (assist), Trevor White and Mason Harkins provided the other tallies. Charles Green and Nathaniel Kennedy contributed an assist apiece.
Goalies Danny Drebber, Ethan Mello and Keaton Piconi split nine saves. Woodstock visits Hartford on Wednesday.
WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The Hurricanes’ effort to break into the win column nearly ended if not for an overtime game-winner from the Raiders at Wendell A. Barwood Arena.
Hartford trailed, 2-0, early before rallying behind a Cailtin Slider penalty shot and a tying goal from Isabel Stack. Greer McCarty and Brianna Roberts posted assistson the Stack goal.
Zoe Pfeiffer made 23 saves for Hartford. Stowe netted the deciding goal with two minutes left in the extra session.
The Canes (0-14-0) go to Spaulding on Wednesday.
MONTPELIER — The Wasps scored three goals in the third period to force overtime, but the Raiders answered with a golden goal to earn the win.
Lizzy Peck had three goals and an assist to lead the Woodstock comeback. Peck scored early in the third period to start the rally and then scored the game-tying goal with less than two minutes left to play.
U-32 scored to open the third period and take a 5-2 lead over the Wasps. Woodstock had a pair of goals in the first period, one each by Peck and Faye Stevens. Lily Gubbins added the other Woodstock goal. Gubbins, Alix Livingston and Allie Cimis all had assists.
The Wasps (6-10-0) will visit Rice on Wednesday.
PLYMOUTH, N.H. — Newport’s Josh Sharron won the 138-pound weight class at the Plymouth Invitational and was named outstanding wrestler of the event in a head coaches’ vote.
Mascoma finished seventh out of 16 teams, getting a second-place finish from Cam Stebbins at 126 pounds. The Royals had a pair of third-place finishes by Bryan Lowell (132 pounds) and Dylan Pelton (170). Raven Streeter took fourth at 220 pounds.
Lebanon’s David Carvalho finished third at 152 pounds.
COLCHESTER, Vt. — The Yellowjackets were just a point behind South Burlington in the state standings going into Saturday’s contest and may find themselves in first place after winning a four-team match.
Windsor won the qualifying round at Spare Time Bowl and then beat fourth-seeded White River Valley, 2-0, in the best-of-three Baker semifinals. Windsor defeated second-seeded Essex, 2-0, in the finals.
Grayson Frazer, who ranks seventh in the state in single-game average, rolled a 134 and 258 in qualifying for Windsor. Rayce Gilbert added a 188 and 168.
For White River Valley, Hanna Bryan had 143 and 114 and Nick Ramos 129 and 137.
ST. JOHNSBURY, Vt. — Ryan Reed and Anne Marie Schneller swept the weight throw at St. Johnsbury Academy to kick off the VPA Division II state indoor track meet.
Reed heaved the 25-pound weight a school-record 49 feet, 8½ inches to win the boys division. Schneller tossed her 20-pound weight a distance of 31-8 to lead a 1-4-5 Hartford finish. Maliya Sinclair — ranked first in the state but struggling with illness — was fourth (29-9), and Tayler Simmons was one spot back in fifth (27-4).
The team points earned at SJA will go toward Hartford’s team tally as the state championship plays out. The second day of the three-day event is Sunday, the triple jump meet at the University of Vermont. Hartford coach Mike Perry will bring Kennedy Mullen, Chloe Jensen and Caroline Hamilton — ranked 1-3-7, respectively — to UVM.
PLYMOUTH, N.H. — The Lebanon girls and Hanover boys, both with two top-three results, won their respective divisions of a 5K freestyle Nordic ski race at Plymouth Regional High School on Saturday
The Raiders took the girls title led by a runner-up from Juno Barnett (19 minutes, 47 seconds) and a third place from Maria Goodwin (20:02). Ana Goodwin (sixth, 20:45) and Maya Barnett (seventh, 20:50) completed Lebanon’s scoring. Hanover took second as a team behind Sage Gilbert-Diamond (fourth, 20:11), Brilla Arvold (12th, 21:51), Kathryn Davis (14th, 21:58) and June Clark (18th, 22:45).
The Marauders won the boys race with Noah Phipps tying for the win with InterLakes’ Eli Misavage (15:57) while Simon Phipps took third (16:14). Diego Aspinwall (fifth, 17:25) and John Meehan (10th, 18:07) provided Hanover’s other points. The Lebanon boys were third, with Simon (18:05), John Biezczad (18:06), Cooper (18:37) and Seth Carl (18:41) posting a 8-9-16-18 finish.
Boys team scores: Hanover 384.5, InterLakes 358.5, Lebanon 355, Winnacunnet 347, Plymouth 325, Moultonborough 322, Bow 308, Con-Val 281, White Mountains 272, Souhegan 206.
Girls team scores: Lebanon 386, Hanover 366, Plymouth 350, Bow 345, InterLakes 340, Con-Val 321, Winnacunnet 284, Souhegan 284, White Mountains 225, Moultonborough 69.