Eagles are local boys’ basketball winners
ADDISON COUNTY — Middlebury held off a determined Mount Abraham bid for the Eagles’ first win of the season to highlight local boys’ basketball play in the latter half of last week. In other action, both the Eagles and Tigers came up short, Otter Valley split two games, and Vergennes lost a key game at home.
TIGERS-EAGLES
In Bristol on Wednesday, the Tigers took a double-digit advantage at the break, only to see the Eagles fight back to take the lead in the fourth quarter. But MUHS made enough plays down the stretch to escape with a 47-44 victory, their second of the year over the Eagles after a 20-point decision in January.
Three Eagles reached double figures in points to spark the attack: Chris Wood (13), Jackson Counter (12) and Coleman Russell 10).
Jonathan Fitzcharles led MUHS with 13 points, and Nick Holmes added 11.
On Saturday, the Eagles played well defensively against BFA-St. Albans, which is 10-8 overall but undefeated in the Lake Division, but came up short, 44-34. The Eagles held the BFA to one point in the opening quarter, but the Bobwhites rallied to take a 19-16 lead by halftime and hit their free throws late to pull away. Wood led the Eagles with eight points.
Also on Saturday, visiting Missisquoi shut the Tigers down, 56-25. The T-Birds improved to 10-8, and MUHS dropped to 4-13.
OTTERS
On Wednesday, the host Otters put the clamps on winless Springfield in a 50-28 victory. Collin Eugair paced the offense with 17 points, including 13 in the third quarter, and Kai Norwood tossed in 15.
On Friday, host Mount St. Joseph improved to 11-7 by coasting past OV, 73-39. The Mounties had needed double overtime to subdue the 3-15 Otters in Brandon the week before. Norwood again scored 15 to lead OV, and Eugair and MacGregor Shannon were next in line with five points apiece.
COMMODORES
On Saturday, visiting Milton (8-10) knocked VUHS out of the running for the Lake Division title with a 66-63 decision that was the Commodores’ third lead loss. The setback also made it harder for the Commodores’ to reach .500 and improve their playoff stock, as it dropped their record to 8-10 with home games vs. Middlebury and St. Albans remaining in the regular season.
Milton’s Ryan Brown and the Commodores’ Dylan Bradford each tossed in 23 points to lead all scorers. Three other Commodores reached double figures: Josh Dam (15 points), Adam Gill (13) and Josh Lorrain (10).