ADDISON COUNTY INDEPENDENT
B Section
THURSDAY, Â MARCH Â 7, Â 2013
ANDY KIRKALDY
SPORTS
ALSO IN THIS SECTION:
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VUHS  boys  outlast  8 ' ,, ¿QDO QH[W
Feedback  and  criticism  always  welcome  here
By  ANDY  KIRKALDY VUHS  senior  Zach  Ouellette  said  BARRE  —  Twenty-Âthree  down,  the  Commodores  would  be  “abso- one  to  go. OXWHO\ SHUFHQW´ FRQÂżGHQW JR- ,Q D 0RQGD\ 'LYLVLRQ ,, VHPLÂż- ing  into  Saturday’s  match-Âup,  even  nal  in  the  Barre  Auditorium,  the  No.  though  they  have  had  to  work  their  1  Vergennes  Union  High  KDUGHVW LQ WKHLU TXDUWHUÂż- School  boys’  basketball  “They QDO DQG VHPLÂżQDO ZLQV team  shrugged  off  a  slow  On  Monday,  the  16-Â7  start  to  get  past  No.  4  U-Â32,  GHĂ€QLWHO\ Raiders  took  a  9-Â2  lead  54-Â49,  and  move  to  within  had LQ WKH ÂżUVW DQG 8 one  game  of  the  title  and  WURXEOH still  led,  9-Â3,  when  Coach  undefeated  season  that  has  Peter  Quinn  called  for  been  the  Commodores’  KDQGOLQJ time  at  2:46.  JRDO QRW RQO\ VLQFH WKH ÂżUVW RXU Quinn  told  the  Com- day  of  practice,  but  also  SUHVVXUH Âľ modores  to  work  harder  since  their  disappointing  to  harass  U-Â32,  both  in  —98+6 VHQLRU their  full-Âcourt  press  and  ORVV LQ WKH ÂżQDO At  3:45  p.m.  on  Sat- =DFK 2XHOOHWWH in  their  half-Âcourt  man-Âto- urday,  the  23-Â0  Commo- man  defense.  And  Ouel- dores  will  meet  the  winner  of  a  late  lette,  who  scored  a  team-Âhigh  19,  Wednesday  game  between  two  20-Â2  said  the  message  took  hold. teams,  No.  2  Burr  &  Burton  and  No.  “Our  defensive  intensity,  we  just  3  Lake  Region. (See  VUHS,  Page  3B)
Every  now  and  then  a  reminder  comes  my  way  that  once  again  we  need  to  explain  how  we  do  things  around  here  —  we  being  my  editors  and  I  —  and  that  our  relationship  with  readers  really  is,  or  at  least  ide- ally  should  be,  a  two-Âway  street. The  latest  reminder  came  courtesy  of  my  ongoing  participation  on  the  Burlington  Free  Press  sports  blogs,  which  the  folks  up  at  that  paper  are  kind  enough  to  allow. As  I’ve  stated  in  print  here  before,  in  a  Clippings  column,  when  I  post  up  at  the  BFP  I’m  MiddAK.  (How  did  I  ever  come  up  with  that  handle?)  If  anyone  ever  reads  boston.com  sports,  I’m  Ver- montk,  for  the  record. As  readers  of  Alex  Abrami’s  “Var- sity  Insiderâ€?  boys’  basketball  blog  al- ready  know,  I  spent  a  lot  of  the  win- ter  defending  the  Middlebury  Union  boys  against  those  who  thought  they  were,  well,  paper  Tigers,  and  didn’t  understand  how  good  they  were. One  commenter,  not  realizing  who  “MiddAKâ€?  was,  recently  criticized  this  paper  and  my  reporting.  I  identi- ¿HG P\VHOI DQG ZH ZHQW EDFN DQG forth  respectfully  in  a  series  of  posts  that  dealt  with  larger  journalism  is- (See  Kirkaldy,  Page  3B)
Women’s  hockey  nets  NCAA  bid  vs.  Norwich  By  ANDY  KIRKALDY MIDDLEBURY  —  The  Middle- bury  College  women’s  hockey  team  lost  a  tough,  2-Â1  game  to  Bowdoin  LQ 6XQGD\ÂśV 1(6&$& SOD\RII ÂżQDO EXW WKH 3DQWKHUV WKLV ZHHN VWLOO ÂżQG themselves  in  a  familiar  position  —  preparing  for  an  NCAA  Division  III  tournament  game  for  the  11th  time  in  program  history.  The  Panthers,  NESCAC’s  top  seed,  will  carry  a  misleading  18-Â7-Â
Sports BRIEFS
2  record  into  NCAA  play.  Coach  Bill  Mandigo  claims  the  Panthers  have  the  toughest  schedule  in  D- III,  and  the  facts  support  his  case:  Five  NESCAC  foes,  against  whom  Middlebury  plays  two  games  apiece,  are  ranked  in  the  top  20,  and  the  Panthers  played  a  half-Âdozen  other  JDPHV DJDLQVW WRS IRHV ÂżYH RI those  against  top-Â10  teams. “Our  strength  of  schedule  is  way  (See  Hockey,  Page  2B)
U-Â14  MAHA  girls  earn  state  crown
MIDDLEBURY  —  The  Middle- bury  Area  Hockey  Association  14-Âand-Âunder  girls’  hockey  team  on  ($*/( -81,25 $6+/,( )D\ DERYH SXWV XS WZR RI KHU SRLQWV DQG MXQLRU 0HJKDQ /LYLQJVWRQ EHORZ Feb.  24  won  the  state  ice  hockey  SDVVHV RII WR D WHDPPDWH GXULQJ 7XHVGD\ QLJKWÂśV SOD\RII JDPH DJDLQVW 0LVVLVTXRL 0RXQW $EUDKDP ZRQ WKH JDPH tournament  in  Waterbury. ,QGHSHQGHQW SKRWRV 7UHQW &DPSEHOO The  Tigers  defeated  Rutland,  4-Â0,  to  win  the  title. The  local  girls  will  travel  to  Wood- stock  on  Friday  to   compete  in  the  New  England  Regional  Tournament.
ScoreBOARD HIGH SCHOOL SPORTS Girls’ Hockey D-ÂII Playoffs 3/6  #6  MUHS  at  #3  Rutland   ..................Late Boys’ Hockey D-ÂI Playoffs 3/6  #9  MUHS  at  #1  S.  Burlington   .........Late Boys’ Basketball D-ÂII Playoffs At Barre Aud 3/4  #1  VUHS  vs.  #4  U-Â32   ...................54-Â49 Girls’ Basketball D-ÂI Playoffs 3/6  #14  MUHS  at  #3  Essex   ..................Late D-ÂII Playoffs 3/5  #1  Mt.  Abe  vs.  #16  Missisquoi   ......60-Â17 3/5  #6  Fair  Haven  vs.  #11  OV   ............36-Â20 3/5  #3  BFA-ÂFairfax  vs.  #13  VUHS  .......53-Â13
(See  Schedule,  Page  3B)
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0W $EH JLUOV FUXLVH WR ZLQ Other  teams  fall  in  playoffs
By  ANDY  KIRKALDY BRISTOL  —  As  expected,  any  resistance  No.  16  Mis- sisquoi  offered  to  the  No.  1  Mount  Abraham  Union  +LJK 6FKRRO JLUOVÂś EDVNHWEDOO WHDP LQ 7XHVGD\ÂśV ÂżUVW round  Division  II  playoff  game  was  futile. 7KH (DJOHV IRUFHG ÂżUVW TXDUWHU WXUQRYHUV LQ taking  a  17-Â1  lead  after  eight  minutes,  and  then  put  it  on  cruise  control  on  the  way  to  a  60-Â17  win  over  the  3-Â18  T-ÂBirds. Certainly,  things  will  get  tougher  as  the  Eagles  go  deeper  into  the  tournament.  On  Friday  they  will  meet  the  winner  of  a  game  played  late  on  Wednesday  be- tween  No.  8  Lamoille  (10-Â9)  and  No.  9  Harwood  (10- 10).  ,I 0RXQW $EH KROGV VHUYH LQ WKDW TXDUWHUÂżQDO LWÂśV RQ to  Barre  on  Monday  at  8:15  p.m.,  probably  vs.  either  No.  4  defending  champion  Hartford  (17-Â3  heading  into  :HGQHVGD\ÂśV ÂżUVW URXQG RU 1R /DNH 5HJLRQ And  No.  2  U-Â32  (19-Â1  entering  the  tournament  on  (See  Eagles,  Page  4B)
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