ADDISON COUNTY INDEPENDENT
B Section
THURSDAY, Â JANUARY Â 28, Â 2016
MATT DICKERSON
SPORTS
ALSO IN THIS SECTION:
t $SJNF -PHT t -FHBM /PUJDFT
t $MBTTJĂŤFET t 3FBM &TUBUF
A  meditation on  snow Kids  love  to  play.  It’s  natural.  Put  a  kid  next  to  a  puddle,  with  or  without  mud  boots,  and  you  have  an  enter- tainment  system  that  rivals  the  most  expensive  video  game  console.  A  pile  of  fresh  snow  on  the  ground  is  even  better.  It  can  make  kids  of  us  all.  It  can  also  make  photographers  of  us  all. I  was  aware  of  this  last  week  after  fresh  snow  in  Vermont  prompted  my  wife  and  I  each  to  cancel  an  early  morning  meeting  and  head  up  to  Ripton  for  a  quick  ski  in  lovely  con- ditions.  It  was  a  delight  just  to  be  outside  gliding  beneath  trees  still  shedding  a  fresh  layer  of  powder  with  each  puff  of  breeze.  I  was  aware  of  this  again  at  the  start  of  this  week  as  videos  and  pho- tos  from  Washington,  Baltimore  and  New  York  made  their  way  along  the  Internet  to  my  computer. While  freezing  rain  slicked  down  Addison  County  roads,  and  quickly  made  our  thin  layer  of  snow  cover  old  and  sloppy  (and  even  thinner),  I  read  with  fascination  (and  even  envy)  about  the  abundance  of  snow  that  recently  fell  (and  fell  and  fell)  along  the  mid-ÂAtlantic.  Reports  out  of  West  Virginia  are  that  Winter  Storm  Jonas  dumped  nearly  three  feet  of  snow.  In  a  New  York  City  borough,  the  snowfall  fell  only  one-Âtenth  of  an  inch  short  of  the  all-Âtime  record  from  nearly  a  cen- tury  and  a  half  that  the  city  has  kept  such  records.  Snow  fell  from  the  edge  of  Florida  all  the  way  up  to  Rhode  Is- TIGER  JUNIOR  TREY  Kaufmann  puts  up  a  high  arcing  shot  during  land  where  our  son  and  daughter-Âin- Tuesday’s  game  against  Vergennes.  Middlebury  lost  the  game,  55-Â50. law  had  a  rare  opportunity  to  go  out  cross-Âcountry  skiing  on  the  local  bike  paths.  Of  course  the  storm  shut  down  not  only  all  the  airports  up  and  down  the  coasts  for  several  days  —  two  and  a  half  feet  of  snow  fell  at  JFK  —  but  it  shut  down  entire  cities.  Pretty  much  all  of  them,  in  fact.  There  was  a  ban  on  non-Âemergency  driving  in  many  SODFHV )HGHUDO RIÂżFHV LQ ' & ZHUH closed  even  into  Tuesday. Of  course  our  modern  media  has  KDG D ÂżHOG GD\ K\SHU VHQVDWLRQDOL]LQJ an  event  which  is,  admittedly,  at  least  somewhat  sensational  to  begin  with.  COMMODORE  JUNIOR  DYLAN  Bradford  sails  to  the  basket  during  Tuesday’s  game  against  Middlebury.  Both  the  good  and  the  bad  have  been  Vergennes  won  the  game,  55-Â50. (See  Dickerson,  Page  3B) Independent  photos/Trent  Campbell
ScoreBOARD VUHS  boys  outlast  Tigers HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Girls’ Hockey 1/26  MUHS  vs.  Missisquoi  .......................8-Â2 Boys’ Basketball 1/25  MSJ  vs.  OV  ...................... 84-Â82  (2  OT) 1/26  Milton  vs.  Mt.  Abe  ........................73-Â44 1/26  VUHS  vs.  MUHS  .........................55-Â50 COLLEGE SPORTS Men’s Basketball 1/24  Midd.  vs.  Williams  ........................75-Â69 1/26  Midd.  vs.  Lyndon  .........................85-Â74 Women’s Basketball 1/24  Williams  vs.  Midd.  ........................66-Â49
Schedule
HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Girls’ Hockey 2/3  MUHS  at  Essex  .......................6:15  p.m. Boys’ Hockey 2/3  MUHS  at  Brattleboro  ...............7:15  p.m. 2/5  MUHS  at  Woodstock  ....................8  p.m. Boys’ Basketball 1/28  Fair  Haven  at  OV  ........................7  p.m. 1/29  Mt.  Abe  at  VUHS  ........................7  p.m. 1/29  St.  Albans  at  MUHS  ....................7  p.m. 2/1  VUHS  at  Missisquoi  .................7:30  p.m. 2/3  MUHS  at  Mt.  Abe  ..........................7  p.m. 6SULQJ¿HOG DW 29  ..........................7  p.m. 2/5  OV  at  MSJ  ....................................7  p.m. 2/6  Milton  at  VUHS  ......................11:30  a.m. 2/6  Missisquoi  at  MUHS  ..............11:30  a.m. 2/6  St.  Albans  at  Mt.  Abe  .............12:30  p.m. Girls’ Basketball 1/29  OV  at  Fair  Haven  ........................7  p.m. 1/30  VUHS  at  Milton  ....................11:30  a.m. 1/30  Missisquoi  at  MUHS  ............12:30  p.m. 1/30  Mt.  Abe  at  N.  Country  ............2:30  p.m. 2/2  Milton  at  Mt.  Abe  ...........................7  p.m. 2/2  Windsor  at  OV  ..............................7  p.m. 0W 0DQV¿HOG DW 98+6  .................7  p.m. 2/2  MUHS  at  Colchester  .....................7  p.m. 29 DW 6SULQJ¿HOG  ..........................7  p.m. 2/5  MUHS  at  Milton  ............................7  p.m. 2/5  North  Country  at  VUHS  ................7  p.m. 0W 0DQV¿HOG DW 0W $EH  ...............7  p.m. Wrestling 1/30  .......OV/VUHS  at  Mt.  Greylock  Tourney 1/30  MUHS  at  Corinth  Tourney  ......9:30  a.m. 2/2  MAU/MMU/CVU  at  VUHS  .......5:30  p.m.
(See  Schedule,  Page  3B)
Defensive  battle  between  improving  squads  goes  to  VUHS By  ANDY  KIRKALDY next  5:45  as  VUHS  extended  the  lead  MIDDLEBURY  —  In  a  Tuesday  to  49-Â43  before  hitting  six  of  eight  battle  of  two  improving  high  school  IURP WKH OLQH LQ WKH ÂżQDO PLQXWH WR boys’  basketball  teams  played  before  seal  the  win. an  energized  crowd,  including  many  VUHS  junior  guard  Adam  Gill,  costumed  and  noisy  students  rooting  who  scored  a  game-Âhigh  23  points,  for  host  Middlebury,  vis- said  the  Commodores  iting  Vergennes  outlast- dug  in  on  defense  as  the  “We just played Tigers  committed  12  ed  MUHS,  55-Â50. The  7-Â9  Commodores,  really hard second-Âhalf  turnovers  now  winners  of  six  of  man-to-man. We DIWHU MXVW ÂżYH LQ WKH ÂżUVW their  past  nine  games,  closed out well, half. led  almost  wire-Âto-Âwire  and we got our “We  just  played  re- but  had  to  respond  to  re- ally  hard  man-Âto-Âman,â€?  peated  challenges  from  boards.â€? Gill  said.  “We  closed  — Adam Gill out  well,  and  we  got  our  the  3-Â11  Tigers,  who  had  won  two  of  their  past  boards.â€? three  and  were  coming  off  a  big  home  VUHS  Coach  Peter  Quinn  also  win  over  7-Â8  Milton. credited  the  Tigers’  3-Â2  zone  with  The  Commodores  also  put  the  keeping  his  team  in  check.  clamps  on  the  Tigers  defensively  in  “It  was  a  decently  played  game  for  the  fourth  quarter  after  MUHS  cut  the  a  couple  of  teams  that  have  struggled  lead  to  43-Â41  at  7:15.  MUHS  man- WKLV \HDU WR ÂżQG ZLQV ´ 4XLQQ VDLG aged  just  two  free  throws  over  the  “Both  teams  played  decent  D.â€?
Women’s  hockey  sweeps  Bowdoin;Íž  5-Â0-Â3  in  league MIDDLEBURY  —  The  Mid- dlebury  College  women’s  hockey  team  swept  a  pair  of  games  this  past  weekend  from  visiting  NE- SCAC  foe  Bowdoin  to  improve  to  9-Â3-Â3,  5-Â0-Â3  in  NESCAC  play.  Bowdoin  fell  to  6-Â7-Â1,  3-Â4-Â0  in  league  action.  The  Panthers,  ranked  No.  7  last  week  in  NCAA  Division  III,  re- main  locked  in  a  duel  with  Am- herst  (11-Â1-Â3,  7-Â1-Â3  NESCAC)  IRU ÂżUVW SODFH LQ WKH OHDJXH 7KLV weekend  Middlebury  will  play  a  pair  of  games  at  fourth-Âplace  Hamilton. On  this  past  Saturday,  the  Pan- thers  defeated  Bowdoin,  4-Â2,  af- ter  Jessica  Young  scored  twice  in Â
the  third  period  to  give  Middle- bury  an  insurmountable  4-Â1  lead.  Middlebury  took  a  1-Â0  at  13:10  RI WKH ÂżUVW RQ D 6KDQQD +LFNPDQ goal.  Hickman  received  the  puck  from  Anna  Van  Kula,  who  picked  up  a  Polar  Bear  turnover  at  the  blue  line,  and  Hickman  fought  her  way  to  the  slot  and  beat  Bow- doin  goalie  Lan  Crofton.  At  15:24  of  the  second  period,  Bowdoin’s  Miranda  Bell  tied  the  JDPH E\ ÂżQLVKLQJ D ULQN ORQJ rush  with  a  backhand.  The  Panthers  took  the  lead  in  WKH ÂżQDO PLQXWH RI WKH PLGGOH period,  when  Maddie  Winslow  tipped  home  Janka  Hlinka’s  feed  (See  Hockey,  Page  4B)
First-Âyear  MUHS  Coach  Kyle  Lus- sier  was  pleased  with  the  Tigers’  ef- fort,  but  said  in  rallying  vs.  Milton  the  Tigers  gained  and  held  onto  a  double- digit  lead,  while  on  Tuesday  the  turn- overs  were  an  issue.  “In  the  Milton  game  we  found  a  way  to  make  the  plays,  while  today  we  found  a  way  to  turn  it  over  those  times,â€?  Lussier  said.  “Both  games  we  played  well,  but  that  was  the  big  dif- ference.â€? Against  Milton,  Lussier  said  the  Ti- gers  were  “buffering  a  10-Âpoint  lead,â€?  while  Tuesday’s  game  presented  new  tactical  challenges.  Moving  forward,  the  Tigers  will  work  on  such  things  as  when  to  foul  and  when  to  shoot  in  similar  circumstances.  ³7KLV ZDV WKH ÂżUVW FORVH JDPH we’ve  had.  Guys  weren’t  sure  what  to  do,â€?  he  said. TIGER  SENIOR  NICK  Holmes  puts  up  two  points  over  Vergennes  de- The  best  VUHS  quarter  was  the  fender  Dylan  Bradford  Tuesday  night  in  Middlebury. (See  Basketball,  Page  3B)
Men’s  hoop  defeats  Ephs,  Lyndon MIDDLEBURY  —  The  Middle- bury  College  men’s  basketball  team  won  two  recent  games,  most  impor- tantly  a  home  NESCAC  win  over  Williams  on  Sunday.  The  Panthers,  winners  of  four  straight,  are  11-Â7  overall  and  4-Â1  in  league  play,  a  record  good  enough  for  second  place  in  NESCAC.  They  next  play  at  Hamilton  on  Saturday  afternoon. On  this  past  Sunday,  Middlebury Â
closed  the  game  with  an  8-Â2  run  over  WKH ÂżQDO WR GHIHDW YLVLWLQJ :LO- liams,  75-Â69.  With  the  victory,  the  3DQWKHUV VQDSSHG D ÂżYH JDPH ORVLQJ skid  to  the  Ephs  in  the  108th  meeting  between  the  two  programs. Williams  (12-Â6,  3-Â3)  led  by  as  PDQ\ DV VHYHQ LQ WKH ÂżUVW KDOI DQG took  a  41-Â36  edge  into  the  locker  room. 7KH (SKV KHOG EHWZHHQ D ÂżYH DQG eight-Âpoint  lead  for  the  opening  sev-Â
en  minutes  of  the  second  half  and  led  by  49-Â42  at  13:07.  Middlebury  then  went  on  a  12-Â0  run  for  a  54-Â49  lead  with  8:45  left.  Adisa  Majors  scored  six  points  during  the  surge  on  two  transition  layups  and  a  pair  of  free  throws. The  Ephs  regained  a  58-Â57  lead  with  a  9-Â3  run,  capped  off  via  a  Dan- iel  Aronowitz  three-Âpointer  at  6:31.  7KH JDPH VDZ ÂżYH WLHV RYHU WKH (See  Panthers,  Page  2B)
Otter  boys  take  Mount  St.  Joseph  to  double  overtime BRANDON  —  Visiting  Mount  St.  Joseph  worked  two  overtimes  to  defeat  the  Otter  Valley  Union  High  School  boys’  basketball  team  on  Monday,  84-Â82.  7KH 0RXQWLHV VFRUHG WKH ÂżQDO IRXU SRLQWV RI UHJX- lation,  including  Jelani  Williams’  buzzer-Âbeating  layup,  and  then  won  at  the  end  of  the  second  overtime  on  Bar- ryn  Shark’s  drive  with  0:05  to  go.  The  3-Â12  Otters  had  led  by  11  early  in  the  third  quar-Â
ter  and  by  seven  early  in  the  fourth,  53-Â46,  before  the  Mounties  fought  back.  Kai  Norwood  led  OV  with  25  points,  and  Derek  Aines  (13)  and  Dylan  Mackie  and  Tyler  Allen  (10  apiece)  also  KLW IRU GRXEOH ÂżJXUHV Shark  (35)  and  Williams  (19)  combined  for  all  but  30  of  the  Mounties’  points.  Â