ADDISON COUNTY — Host Fair Haven topped Otter Valley to highlight local high school boys’ basketball action, all from this past Friday. In other games Middlebury lost a road heartbreaker, while Vergennes stumbled at home.
OTTERS
The Slaters rode a 15-3 game-opening start to a 32-16 halftime lead and an eventual 63-50 victory over the visiting Otters.
Slater Cam Coloutti scored nine of his 28 points in the first quarter and 16 in the first half to help his team to the fast start.
But OV guard Dylan Mackie’s 23-point night, which included six three-pointers, helped the Otters pull to within 50-44 in the fourth quarter. An Austin Ellis three pushed the Fair Haven advantage back to nine, however, and the Slaters pulled away to improve to 9-3, a record good enough for third place in Division II. Andrew Ferrara added 10 for the Slaters.
For OV, Tyler Rowe chipped in nine points and Payson Williams added six. The Otters dropped to 6-6 and are in a battle to earn a first-round home game for the D-II playoffs.
TIGERS
The Tigers suffered their second straight defeat in a game that came down to the wire, 57-56, at Milton. The 10-2 Yellowjackets got a tie-breaking free throw from Colby Ducharme with 10 seconds left to net the win. Seth Herrity scored 19 for Milton, in fourth place in D-II, and Ian Jennings added 16.
Skyeler Devlin andSpencer Cadoret led a balanced MUHS attack with 12 points each, and Cody Pomainville chipped in 10 for the 3-9 Tigers.
COMMODORES
Visiting Enosburg defeated the Commodores, 39-26, with a strong defensive effort. The Hornets improved to 6-4 and are just ahead of OV in the D-II standings. The 3-8 Commodores also played well defensively, including holding Enosburg to two points in the first period, but sank just nine of 58 shots from the floor.
Next up for VUHS is a visit on Wednesday from rival Mount Abraham, which was idle late last week.