ADDISON COUNTY — A huge win for Otter Valley highlighted local high school boys’ basketball games played on this past Friday and Saturday, when also Mount Abraham was upset and Middlebury lost yet another heartbreaker.
OTTERS
On Friday the Otters knocked off visiting Mount St. Joseph, Division II’s first-place team, 63-60. The 11-3 Mounties suffered their first loss to another D-II team, while OV headed into a Monday game at Vergennes with an 8-6 mark. They will also host D-II’s second-place team, Fair Haven (10-4) on Wednesday.
Senior guard Josh Letourneau sparked the Otters with 31 points, including five three-pointers and 10 OV points in the fourth quarter as the Otters stretched a 42-39 lead to 54-45, enough to stave off a late Mountie surge.
Payson Williams scored 17 for OV, and Dylan Mackie added eight as part of a strong all-around game. Leo Carranza scored 14 for the Mounties.
EAGLES
On Saturday the Eagles failed to build on their momentum from a big win at VUHS two days before (see story on Page 19), and they fell to previously winless Missisquoi, 45-40.
Parker Hines scored all eight of his points for the Eagles in the fourth quarter to help them rally to take a 40-39 lead with 1:16 to go, but T-Bird Gabriel Unwin (10 points) snuck in for an offensive rebound on the next MVU possession to restore his team’s lead, and Patrick Walker (11) sealed the 1-12 T-Birds’ victory with four free throws in the final minute.
Eagle Coach Martin Clark said MVU played well but the 6-9 Eagles “beat ourselves” by missing open shots and turning the ball over. “Impatience offensively really hurt us,” Clark said.
Liam Kelliher scored a team-high nine for Mount Abe.
TIGERS
On Friday visiting Enosburg got five points from Parker Snow in the final 2.2 seconds to stun the Tigers, 47-45. It was the third straight loss for the Tigers by one or two points in a game decided at the final horn.
Snow’s three-pointer made it 45-45 with 2.2 seconds to go, and after a Tiger violation on the inbounds play gave the ball back to the Hornets, Snow sank a shot on Enosburg’s inbounds play to lift the 7-5 Hornets to the win.
Noah Swainbank scored 13 to lead the Hornets. Skyeler Devlin paced the 3-10 Tigers with 10 points.