ADDISON COUNTY — Local teams faced a tough stretch in high school basketball play late last week, as other than in the clash between the Otter Valley and Vergennes boys on Friday (see story on Page 29), only the Middlebury Union girls emerged with a victory. Coming up short as the teams reached or neared the midpoint of the season were the Mount Abraham boys and girls, the VUHS girls, the Tiger boys, and the OV girls.
TIGER GIRLS
On Friday, Keagan Dunbar scored 18 in the first quarter to help the MUHS girls get off to a fast start in a 59-43 win at Milton. Dunbar finished with 37 as the Tigers improved to 6-2 with their fourth straight win.
EAGLE GIRLS
On Friday, visiting Mount Mansfield outscored the Eagle girls by 13-2 in the fourth quarter to pull out a 45-40 victory. The Eagles dropped to 5-5 despite 17 points and 11 rebounds from Emma Carter and 12 points from Jalen Cook. 
EAGLE BOYS
On Friday host Mill River opened with a 24-12 first quarter on the way to defeating the Mount Abe boys, 61-46. The Eagles fought back to within eight in the third period, but came no closer against the 10-1 Minutemen. Chris Wood (13 points) and Dustin Whitcomb (eight) led the 4-6 Eagles.  
VUHS GIRLS
On Friday, visiting North Country defeated the shorthanded VUHS girls, 55-35. VUHS missed two starters due to injury and illness, and a third had to leave the game with an illness. Morgan Lynk (seven points) and Shay Pouliot (six) paced the 6-3 Commodores.
TIGER BOYS
On Friday, the Tiger boys gave visiting Brattleboro a battle in a 75-63 setback. Trey Kaufmann (18 points) and J.D. Goettelmann (14) combined for 32 points, but could not prevent the Tigers from dropping to 0-10. Their Lake Division schedule will begin after one more game vs. a Division I Metro foe, Colchester, and should offer MUHS opportunities for breakthroughs.
OV GIRLS
On Thursday, Division I foe Burr & Burton topped the visiting Otter girls, 48-35, as Bulldogs Jade McLellan (21) and Emily Bleakie (19) combined for 40 points. Julia Lee (nine), Gabriela Poalino (eight) and Sophia Bloomer (seven) paced the 2-5 Otters.