TIGER CAMDEM WHITLOCK goes airborne on the way to the hoop during his team’s Jan. 25 home game vs. Mount Abe. Eagles Ian Funke, right, and Chase Atkins defend.
Independent photo/Steve James

MIDDLEBURY — Two trends continued, one of them happier than the other, when the Middlebury Union High School boys’ basketball team shut down visiting Mount Abraham in the second half of Thursday’s game on the way to a 48-30 victory. 

The positive trend: It was the Tigers’ third win in five outings after an 0-7 start to their season, and they have played strong defense in all five. On Thursday what MUHS Coach Chris Altemose called a matchup zone defense limited the Eagles to 11 second-half points.  

“We’re on a five-game stretch here where I feel like things are starting to come together for us,” said Altemose.

He attributed the Tigers’ improvement to a recent break in the schedule caused by a postponed game. Altemose said extra practice time allowed the team to regroup, assess what was and was not working, adjust their 10-deep player rotation, and install the new defense, which heading into a Saturday game had held five straight foes to less than 35% shooting from the floor.

“(We had) almost a week to evaluate and regroup and refocus, and we changed a few things. One of them was buying into the matchup zone defense,” he said. 

On the flip side, the Eagles dropped their fourth straight game and saw their record slide to 4-10. Coach Martin Clark said he doesn’t have to look far for the biggest issue. The defense and hard work have been there, he said, but in those four losses the Eagles have scored more than 40 points just once, 43 in a 13-point setback at Milton. 

“The effort is there, but we’re just not making shots. It’s tough when the ball is not going in the hoop for you,” he said. 

EAGLE IAN FUNKE lays in a transition bucket during a Jan. 25 game at MUHS. Funke led the Eagles with 13 points, but the Tigers prevailed.
Independent photo/Steve James

Clark added the Eagles struggled to get good looks against the Tigers’ two different zones.

“We lack patience a little bit, and want to do our own thing on the court once in a while. We just need more ball movement,” he said. “It was a great job by Middlebury. They played hard, too.”

Certainly both teams showed plenty of effort in Thursday’s first quarter, but neither team will especially enjoy watching the video of eight minutes that saw the teams combine for 11 turnovers, seven by the Eagles, and 13 points, eight by the Tigers.

The best that could be said of the period was the Tigers’ 1-3-1 zone and press was effective, as was Mount Abe’s man defense. Four Tigers scored, while Hayden Lutz hit a three and Ian Funke drove for two and blocked a shot for Mount Abe — he finished with five blocks.

The offenses gained more traction in the second period. The Tigers opened with a 13-4 run over the first 3:50 to lead by 21-9. Sophomore post player Cooke Riney keyed it with a transition putback, a move in the paint, and a three-pointer. Also, Kyle Stearns rebounded his own missed shot, Colton Odell drove for a hoop, and point guard Tassilo Luksch scored on the break.

The Eagles responded with their best offensive stretch, a 12-2 run to cut the Tiger lead to 23-19 at halftime. Funke scored six points in the surge and blocked two shots at the other end, Charlie Germon hit four free throws, and Lutz scored on the break on a feed from Noah Ladeau. 

The third quarter, however, was not kind to Mount Abe, which scored just one basket, a Ladeau floater in the lane two minutes in; hit only one of five free throws; and committed five turnovers. 

Altemose said the Tigers tweaked their zone after the Eagles surged late in the first half.  

“We adjusted our rotation to match up with their overloads, and the guys handled that really well,” he said.

The Tigers didn’t exactly explode offensively in the period, but their 12 points put them up, 35-22 after three. Odell and Camden Whitlock each contributed two buckets in the paint during the quarter to lead the way for MUHS.

EAGLE GUARD NOAH Ladeau looks to make a play during his team’s visit to MUHS on Jan. 25. Tiger Noah Doherty-Konczal defends.
Independent photo/Steve James

Early in the fourth Funke’s three-point play and then a Cooper Cook putback twice pulled Mount Abe to within 11; Cook’s hoop made it 38-27 with 5:25 to go.

MOUNT ABE GUARD Hayden Lutz cuts to the basket for a shot during his team’s game at MUHS on Jan. 25. Tigers Carter Paquette and Kyle Stearns, center, defend.
Independent photo/Steve James

But all the Eagles managed in the rest of the period was a Germon three-pointer as the Tigers steadily increased their lead. Stearns hit inside, and when Riney celebrated his second three-pointer at 4:30 the lead was 44-27, and MUHS was on its way.  

Funke led the Eagles with 13 points, followed by Germon with seven and Lutz with six. 

Clark was asked what it would take to get things pointed in the right direction. 

“We have to get some confidence. We need to feed off each other,” Clark said. “The hard work is there. We just need to play a little more as a team. Defensively we do a pretty decent job, but offensively we’ve got to do better.”

Riney led the Tigers with 16 points, Stearns scored 10, and Odell and Whitlock contributed six apiece. Several other Tigers scored a bucket or two. Altemose said he was pleased with his team’s effort against a rival that he said “came out and played hard.” 

“We talked about that before the game. Records and level are out the window when you play against Otter Valley and Mount Abe. You know they’re going to be scrappy, and they’re going to be here to play,” he said. “So I was real happy with our response in the second half. We tweaked a few things in the second half and really dialed in on a couple things, and the guys responded really well.”

Altemose added another factor in his inexperienced team’s improved play.

“Everyone is kind of figuring out their roles, which when you rebuild takes some time to make that happen,” he said. “I’m happy with the progress. I’m happy with them finding their roles for the good of the team.”