MIDDLEBURY — Visiting Mill River Union High School on Saturday broke open a close boys’ basketball game against Middlebury with a 12-0, six-minute fourth-quarter run that sparked the Minutemen’s 55-42 victory. 

The Tigers played hard on defense and actually forced 10 of MRU’s 23 turnovers in the final eight minutes, but scored only four points in the final seven minutes, all after as the 2-2 Minutemen’s big surge, in which Sasha Auer hit back-to-back threes and Ryan Smith chipped in two layups and a free throw. Solan Farmer’s free throw capped the 12-0 run, which pushed MRU’s lead to 55-38.

Coach Chris Altemose’s inexperienced team — only senior forward Noah Doherty-Konczal saw meaningful minutes this past winter — dropped to 0-4 despite what he called steady effort on the Tigers’ part.

But, he said, the Tigers’ play and execution has thus far been inconsistent, understandably given their lack of varsity seasoning.

“The effort is there. It’s a young crew. We don’t have a lot of varsity experience. It’s going to take us some time to gel,” Altemose said. “I thought despite the outcome this was a better performance for us.”

MUHS JUNIOR GUARD Tassilo Luksch tries to strip the ball from a Mill River player during Saturday’s Tiger home hoop game. Junior Colton Odell moves in for the double-team.
Independent photo/Steve James

Still, some of the same problems cropped up, he said: Offensively the decision-making and shot-making are works in progress.

“We struggle to execute together for good shots, and when we get the good shots we struggle to finish them,” the coach said.

On the other end of the floor, Altemose said the Tigers have the ability and desire to play good defense, but are still learning concepts of team defense.

“Most of us are OK on the ball. We’ve got to get better off the ball. It’s a collective effort,” he said. 

The good news? Altemose said the Tigers flash potential, and did so again on Saturday.

TIGER JUNIOR FORWARD Colton Odell finds room in the middle of the Mill River zone to shoot a floater during Saturday’s MUHS home basketball game.
Independent photo/Steve James

“There were a handful of possessions where we did execute. We got good ball movement and multiple touches and great shots, the first quarter specifically,” he said. “Actually, against every one of our opponents we’ve come out, and in the first quarter it’s like we know what we’re supposed to do. We come out and we do it, and we compete … And then it just gets away from us. Obviously being able to sustain that effort longer is going to be the challenge.”

Saturday’s first quarter was promising. The Tigers’ man-to-man defense looked tight, and they took a 6-0 lead in the first two minutes on buckets by junior Cam Whitlock, after classmate and backcourt mate Tassilo Luksch’s offensive rebound; junior forward Kyle Stearns, on a power move inside; and senior guard Carter Paquette, on a drive that penetrated MRU’s 1-2-2 zone.

The Minutemen hit three three-pointers, two by guard Michael Wierzbicki, in a 9-3 counter-surge in which Paquette sank a three for MUHS.

The Tigers then closed the period by outscoring MRU, 8-4, to lead by 17-13. Four players got a bucket apiece as Altemose subbed freely: Stearns, Doherty-Konczal, senior swingman Milo Rees and sophomore forward Cooke Riney, the latter two off the bench.

TIGER SOPHOMORE FORWARD Cooke Riney grabs a rebound during Saturday’s MUHS home basketball game as junior teammate Colton Odell boxes out a Mill River player.
Independent photo/Steve James

The momentum carried into the first three minutes of the second period. MRU’s Smith opened with a three-point play inside, but the Tigers scored the next five points to take a 22-16 lead: a Riney putback; Doherty-Konczal’s lay-in on Rees’s one-touch pass on a ball going out of bounds, arguably the play of the game; and a Luksch free throw. 

Then their attack went stale, with seven turnovers in the period, at times due to over-penetration against the zone. While the Tigers went scoreless for four minutes, at the other end Smith scored seven points and set up Jack Boulger for a pretty transition hoop in a 9-0 run that gave MRU a 25-22 lead. Whitlock put the Tigers back on top briefly by driving for a bucket and then feeding Stearns in transition, but two Smith free throws gave the Minutemen the lead at the break, 27-26.

Whitlock hit a jumper to put MUHS for the last time to open the second half, but MRU took charge with threes from three players and a hoop inside to go up by 38-30 at the period’s midway point. Riney converted two offensive boards in the final few minutes, but the Tigers still trailed by 43-34 after Solan Farmer, as time wound down, became the fourth Minuteman to hit a three in the quarter. 

Tiger junior forward Colton Odell gave the Tiger life in the fourth with back-to-back hoops in the first minute, and at 43-38 it was anyone’s game. The Minutemen then claimed it as theirs with their 11-0 run, which made it 55-38 with two minutes to go. Luksch hit a free throw and a trey to create the final score. 

TIGER SENIOR GUARD Carter Paquette gets a step on a Mill River defender as he nears the paint during Saturday’s home basketball game.
Independent photo/Steve James

Smith led MRU with 22 points, and Auer (15) and Wierzbicki also reached double figures for Coach Tim Gallipo’s team. 

Riney scored 10 points to lead MUHS, and Paquette finished with nine. 

Altemose is confident the Tigers will improve, but said it will be important for them to maintain perspective. 

“They’re great kids. They’re working really hard,” he said. “I just hope they keep their heads up during our growing pains.”