BARRE, Vt. — The Mid-Vermont Christian School Eagles had their defense working, but couldn’t get shots to drop and fell to the Richford Rockets 39-27 in a VPA Division IV girls’ basketball semifinal matchup at Barre Auditorium on Monday night.
Junior Rebekah Roberts led the No. 4-seeded Eagles in scoring in the loss with 12 points. Mid-Vermont also received solid offensive contributions from senior Lydia Dickey, who had eight points.
“I think their defense was awesome,” Mid-Vermont Head Coach Chris Goodwin said of his team’s performance. “We knew we had to shoot better than what we did. … The better team won tonight.”
Both squads struggled to score early, although there were some good looks on both sides; solid defense was also on display.
At the end of the first frame, the No. 1 seed Rockets led 7-4 and began to build on that lead to start the second quarter.
After a lay-up from sophomore Sophia Derby and another from freshman Justice Stewart, Richford had an 11-4 lead just two minutes into the second quarter.
Down seven, the Eagles punched back and went on a 6-0 run to get within one on two baskets from Dickey and one from senior Kira Gray.
Out of a timeout, Richford settled in, thanks in large part to Derby, who scored five unanswered points. She ended the night as the Rockets’ leading scorer with 16 points.
MVCS went into the halftime locker room trailing 16-12, but the sequence at the end of the first half was a preview for the rest of the game.
As much as the Eagles pushed, they could not regain a lead from the Rockets. Mid-Vermont trailed by as much as nine in the third quarter but got within three points, 24-21, by the end of the period.
Trailing by five with about two minutes remaining in regulation, the Eagles had to start fouling Richford. The Rockets responded, making 8 of 12 from the charity stripe to effectively put the game on ice, as the Eagles’ shooting stayed cold.
“If we didn’t have to foul them at the end, we probably would have held them to 32, 34 points, which is something only a couple of really good teams have held them to throughout the year,” Goodwin said.
This season marked the Eagles’ first appearance in the VPA D-IV girls’ basketball playoffs since the school was banned from competing within the VPA after forfeiting a playoff game against Long Trail in 2023, which rostered a transgender student-athlete.
The ban was lifted after a federal appeals court ruling in September.
“We looked forward to being here,” Goodwin said. “We’re psyched to be back. Hopefully, we can get more games next year — get a full schedule if other teams are willing to play us, and hopefully we have an opportunity to get back here again next year.”