ADDISON COUNTY — In local high school girls’ basketball play earlier this week, Mount Abraham clinched the top seed for the Division II playoffs, Middlebury split a pair of games, and Vergennes and Otter Valley came up short.
The teams will play their final games of the regular season later this week, and the Vermont Principals’ Association will release pairings on Monday morning.
EAGLES CLINCH
On Monday, the Eagles rallied past Division I Colchester, 43-41, to improve to 18-1. No matter how Mount Abe fares at winless Mount Mansfield on Thursday, the Eagles have an insurmountable lead in the D-II standings over No. 2 seed U-32. The Raiders are 19-1, but have fewer D-I road wins and thus have earned fewer quality points than Mount Abe. Possible first-round foes for the Eagles are Missisquoi or VUHS.
Against the 12-7 Lakers, the Eagles fell behind at the half, 21-16, before rallying to pull out the win. Ashlie Fay (14 points) and Meghan Livingston (13) led the Eagle offense.
TIGERS SPLIT
On Monday, MUHS got past host Missisquoi, 55-44, as senior guard Tiffany Danyow poured in a career-high 26 points. Hannah Hobbs contributed 14 points for the Tigers, who won for the fifth time in eight outings after an 0-9 start.
On Tuesday, host Colchester eased past MUHS, 53-24. Hobbs led the 5-13 Tigers with 11 points.
The Tigers conclude their regular season by hosting rival VUHS on Thursday at 7 p.m. A No. 12 or 13 seed in D-I is probable.
OV DEFEATED
On Tuesday, defending D-II champion Hartford bested the visiting Otters, 57-29. Jessica Frasier scored 11 for the Otters. Hartford (16-3) moved into fourth place in D-II with the win and is a potential semifinal foe for Mount Abe in what would be a rematch of the 2012 final.
The 9-9 Otters, who are in 11th in D-II with two games to go, play at home vs. Leland & Gray on Thursday and at Springfield on Friday. They will probably need help to move up in the standings, but are unlikely to drop further.
VUHS FALLS
On Monday, visiting Milton improved to 9-10 with a 52-32 victory over VUHS. Cat Chaput (12) and K.C. Ambrose (10) led the Commodores, who dropped to 3-16 heading into their regular-season finale at MUHS on Thursday. The Commodores may need a win to move out of the No. 16 position and a first-round date with Mount Abe.