ADDISON COUNTY — Middlebury knocked off previously undefeated Fair Haven to highlight local boys’ basketball play late last week. In other action Vergennes came up short at home, while Otter Valley lost a late lead on the road in a setback.
The Otters also hosted Mount Abraham on Saturday (click here to read that story).
TIGERS-SLATERS
On Thursday the Tigers held off a second-half Slater surge to prevail, 57-53. Parker Beatty (20 points) and Tyler Buxton (12) led the scoring. Coach John Howe praised the Tigers’ ball movement and defense on Fair Haven standout Cam Coloutti, who was held to six points. Andrew Ferrara led the Slaters with 14.
The result left both teams at 6-1. The Tigers moved into third place in Division I and will host Spaulding on Wednesday.
COMMODORES
On Thursday visiting Mill River played strong defense in a 48-22 victory over the VUHS. Aidan Botti scored a game-high 13 for MRU, which improved to 5-1 and took over first place in D-II with the Slaters’ setback to MUHS. The Commodores slipped to 2-5 and will visit Montpelier on Tuesday.
OTTERS
On Thursday the Otters led host Burr & Burton entering the fourth quarter, 28-21, but the D-I Bulldogs erupted for a 23-10 advantage in the final eight minutes to pull out a 44-38 victory. BBA improved to 6-2.
The Otters hurt themselves by making just eight out of 23 second-half free throws while losing their second straight close contest on the road to a D-I foe. OV guard Delshon Norwood led all scorers with 13 points.
OV dropped to 4-5 heading into Saturday’s game with Mount Abe, which defeated the Otters in Bristol on Jan. 2 to trigger a three-game OV skid.