WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — Whoops.
Despite showing signs of progress under second-year head coach Heidi Bushway, the Hartford High girls basketball team isn’t in a position to not suffer from an off night with barely a week left in the regular season. Unfortunately, visiting Otter Valley made the most of one in a 48-43 upset of the Hurricanes on Thursday night at Hanley Gym.
Hartford entered the night in ninth place in the VPA Division II standings, trailing Springfield by a game in the chase for a first-round state tournament home game. The D-III Otters (6-11), however, grabbed the surprise result and a measure of revenge after losing to Hartford at home on Jan. 25, 58-34.
Kennedy Mullen had a season-high 18 points for the Canes, who received six points apiece from Bailey Cameron and Jasmine Jenkins.
Hartford (9-8) hosts Stowe in a makeup game on Saturday afternoon.
WEST RUTLAND, Vt. — The Raptors (5-11) ran into the juggernaut that is the Golden Horde (18-0), the runaway leader in VPA Division IV.
Adele Tilden had a team-high three points on a night of limited Rivendell offense. Tim Goodwin, filling in a third game for the absent Dennis Fitzgerald, credited Lizzie Noyes with a well-played game off the bench.
The Raptors head to Mid Vermont Christian on Saturday.
CLAREMONT — The Cardinals (9-10, 7-9) shook off a three-point opening quarter — not to mention a career-high night from Tiger ace Greysan Beaulieu — to push a half-game ahead of idle Con-Val for the 16th and final seed in the NHIAA Division II tournament with one week to go.
Stevens rode a 25-point third quarter to overturn a 23-15 halftime deficit. Sydney Miller hit all four of her 3-pointers in the period, eventually netting a team-high 16 points for the Cards, who received 13 points from Alyssa Paquette and 10 from Jaci Morin.
Beaulieu had at leave five points in every period and a career-topping 26 points for Newport (3-16, 3-14), who were eliminated from the D-III postseason picture with the loss. Both teams are in action on Friday, with the Tigers hosting Fall Mountain and Stevens heading to Timberlane.
LACONIA, N.H. — The Raiders’ Caleb Smith kept Laconia’s top scorer to a dull roar and contributed 11 points as well as Lebanon (12-3, 10-2 league) pulled away in the second half.
The Sachems amassed just eight points after halftime, only two from anyone other than top point-producer Demasco McKissic (12 points).
When Smith wasn’t slowing McKissic down, he was backing an 18-point night from teammate Jon Willeman, with Karsten Hansen adding 10 and Calvin Bates contributing nine.
The Raiders host Pelham in a Saturday makeup contest pitting the fifth- and fourth-place teams in NHIAA Division II.
DORSET, Vt. — Twelve different Wildcats hit the scoresheet as White River Valley (12-8) secured the seventh seed in the upcoming VPA Division IV tournament.
“I think we’re battle-tested,” WRV coach Mike Gaudette said. “We played a tough schedule this year, and hopefully it helps in the playoffs upcoming.”
Dominic Craven had 14 points and Jacob Barry provided 11 to lead a varied Wildcat attack. WRV learns its first-round playoff assignment on Monday.
ORLEANS, Vt. — The Panthers (10-9) bounced back from Wednesday’s narrow loss to D-II frontunner U-32 to pounce on the D-II Rangers (5-15) and boost their hopes for a top-four D-III finish.
Alex Emerson knocked down six 3-pointers en route to a game-high 22 points for Thetford, which held a 31-22 halftime lead and withstood a 20-point final Lake Region quarter. Eli Dunnet provided 21 points, and Jacob Gilman buried a 3-pointer of his own to help Thetford build its first-half lead.
The Panthers wrap up their regular season at Lyndon on Saturday afternoon.
SHARON — Eric Younce drove through the middle of the Blue Mountain defense and hit Ian Robertson with a bounce pass that turned into the game-winning layup with 7 seconds to go for the Phoenix (10-9).
The Bucks, who took a 74-59 win from Sharon on Jan. 21, struggled through the second half against the hosts’ man-to-man defense. With leading scorer Ty Chapin held down to seven points, Olly Skeet-Browning provided five of his team-high 14 points in the fourth quarter to overturn what had been a 26-23 deficit.
Sharon closes its regular season at Long Trail on Saturday.
QUECHEE — The Eagles’ bid for a fourth-quarter comeback from a double-digit deficit came up just short.
Websterville held a 31-20 halftime lead, but Mid Vermont Christian cut the gap to three points midway through the final period before foul trouble finally ended the Eagles’ hopes.
MVCS drew 20 team fouls over the game and turned the ball over 26 times.
Cade Paquette buried five 3-pointers and posted a season-high 23 points for Mid Vermont. Hunter Cooper added 10 points. The Eagles host Arlington on Saturday.
HANOVER — Dartmouth senior tri-captain James Foye landed on the College Sports Information Directors of America’s five-player all-academic team for Division I schools in District I.
Foye carries a 3.97 grade-point average in economics and has been one of the Big Green’s top perimeter shooters this year. He’s averaging 9.9 points per game and hitting 44.1% of his shots from beyond the 3-point line. It’s the second straight year Foye has earned such recognition.
He and the Big Green return to Ivy League action on Friday night, hosting Penn.
PROVIDENCE, R.I. — The Big Green dropped from fifth to seventh two days into the Ivy League championships at Brown University.
Dartmouth broke its second program record in as many days when the 200-yard freestyle relay team posted a third-place time of 1 minutes, 31.0 seconds. Zoe Wortzman, Summer Martin, Ashley Post and Sophie Smith made up the quartet.
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Scores that missed Thursday’s paper due to deadline. Find updates online at www.vnews.com.
WOODSTOCK — Dylan DeSchamp potted the unassisted tie-breaking goal and Andrew Gubbins added an empty-net clincher to finish off the Wasps’ four-goal third period, handing the VPA Division II-leading Highlanders just their second loss of the season.
Harwood (16-2-0) held a 1-0 lead entering the final stanza. Riley Shepherd converted a Charles Greene pass to tie the game only to have the visitors go back in front. Greene’s unassisted strike brought Woodstock (13-3-2) into a 2-2 tie, setting the stage for the late heroics.
Henry Greene stopped 24 shots for the Wasps.
MERIDEN — Junior guard Jenna Santos had the hot hand, scoring a game-high 26 points to give the Wildcats (6-12-0) claimed their second straight victory.