ADDISON COUNTY — In recent high school boys’ hoop action, Middlebury topped host Mount Abraham in a game covered by the Addison Independent on Jan. 31, and went on to win a Saturday game.

The Eagles also lost their ensuing  outing, Vergennes won the only game on its schedule between Jan. 29 and Feb. 4, and Otter Valley swept three games to remain near the top of the Division II standings.

EAGLES-TIGERS

On Jan. 31 in the Mount Abraham gym, visiting Middlebury rallied in the fourth quarter to defeat the host Eagles, 51-45.

It was Tigers’ third victory in four outings; they improved to 5-8. The Eagles had won three straight, but dropped to 6-6 with the setback.

Both teams have been defending well. On offense, the Eagles have relied on guard play — in one recent win, seniors Hayden Lutz and Aricin Griffin and junior Charlie Germon combined for 40 points.

The Tigers have more size, notably junior post player Cooke Riney, and have relied more on rebounding and inside scoring.

Coaches knew the outcome would hinge on how well the Tiger backcourt handled the Eagle guards, and whether the Eagles could deal with the MUHS size advantage.

It was close, but the edge went to the Tigers. Lutz scored 22, but had to work hard against the defense of Tiger guard Cam Whitlock, who most often drew the assignment, with plenty of help on picks in the MUHS man-to-man defense.

Meanwhile, the rest of the Eagle starting guards combined for 13 points, eight from Griffin and five each from Kyle Johnston. Jacob Prouty and Chase Atkins.

At the other end, Riney scored 17 in the paint and helped the Tigers to an edge on the boards in the second half. Counting team rebounds, Mount Abe had a 19-12 edge in the first half, but the Tigers earned a 15-6 advantage after the break.

The Tiger guards also chipped in offensively: 10 points from Whitlock, and six from two decisive late threes from Ryan Brouillard. Forward Brady Lloyd scored 12.

Whitlock talked about the Tiger defense.

“The game plan tonight was to get on 23 (Lutz), play good defense, get over screens on him,” Whitlock said.

The Tigers also took better care of the ball in the second half (six turnovers) than in the first half (11 turnovers).

“We’ve been getting our turnover count down,” Whitlock said. “We’re trusting each other as a team.”

MUHS Coach Chris Altemose agreed defense was an important factor.

“It was a team effort. Everybody did a nice job,” he said.

He was also pleased the Tigers worked the ball in to Riney, and that they sank a few jumpers, as they had in a big home win over Milton on Jan. 29.

“Our strength is inside, and we tried to play to that,” Altemose said. “I thought we did a better job at that tonight than maybe we had been doing. Our pieces are coming. We hit a couple from outside tonight late, which was great.”

The Eagles bolted to a 7-0 lead in the first 1:30 on a drives by Lutz and Griffin and a Johnston three-pointer. But the Tigers responded with a 14-4 surge to lead by 14-11 after the opening quarter.

Riney closed the period with three buckets inside, and Whitlock and Lloyd each scored four points. At the other end, Lutz added a three pointer and Griffin a free throw to keep the Eagles’ close.

In the second period, the Eagles switched to a 2-3 zone that made it harder for the Tigers to feed Riney, and MUHS went scoreless for the first 4:35. Meanwhile, the Eagles went on an 11-0 run that included three-pointers from Prouty, Griffin and Atkins, a Johnston drive and two Lutz free throws, and Mount Abe led by 26-17.

But the Tigers closed the period with a 12-4 run, and the Eagle lead was only 28-26 at the half. Riney chipped in three buckets, turning one into a three-point play. Lloyd hit a three, and Tassilo Luksch drove for two. Lutz countered with four free throws.

In the first half, the Tigers were careless with the ball and the Eagles outrebounded them. But in the second half, they reversed those numbers.

The Tigers made no headway as defense ruled in a third quarter: The Eagles outscored them, 8-6, and led by 36-32 entering the fourth. Riney scored four early on to give MUHS a 30-28 lead, but free throws from Griffin and Lutz put Mount Abe back on top. A Whitlock move to the hoop tied the game again at 2:15, but four straight points by Lutz, a layup on a Prouty feed and another off a steal, restored the Eagle lead.

Then the Eagles committed three turnovers to open the fourth quarter (of just four in the half). Meanwhile, Lloyd hit a three, Whitlock sank a short jumper, and the Tigers led, 39-36. They never trailed again.

The teams traded buckets until a Lutz jumper pulled the Eagles within 41-40. Enter Brouillard. The sophomore hit a three at 3:05, and the Tiger lead was 44-40. Lutz answered from behind the arc: 44-43.

But Brouillard nailed another three at 2:50: 47-43, Tigers — and those would prove to be the winning points.

Lutz converted a layup after a Griffin steal, and the Eagles were within two with 1:06 left. But Mount Abe missed two three-pointers in the final minute, and Taylor Altemose added four Tiger free throws for the final score.

Eagle Coach Martin Clark credited both teams.

“It was just a hard-fought game,” he said. “They did a good job trying to get it into their big guy. We, of course, had to collapse on him and do what we could to hold him off, and he really got us more on the rebounding than anything.”

Overall, he’s pleased with the Eagles’ progress.

“I love the way we’ve been playing and really gelling defensively and working hard,” Clark said.

Coach Altemose was happy with the Tigers’ resiliency.

“We had to dig out of a hole twice tonight. I think that says a lot about us,” he said.

Whitlock was asked why the Tigers have recently improved their record.

“We love playing together,” he said. “Every game we bring real tough defense and really good rebounding. And now that we’re putting our offensive pieces together and starting to control the ball, the sky’s the limit.”

OTTERS

On Jan. 29, the Otters dropped a 32-5 first quarter on visiting Brattleboro on the way to a 73-46 victory. Lucas Politano sparked the early onslaught with four three-pointers in the first eight minutes and finished with 19 points. Drew Pelkey (14 points) and Brody Lathrop (12 points) also reached double figures for the Otters.

This past Friday, the Otters coasted past visiting Windsor, 60-37, with another balanced scoring output. Connor Denis led with 17 points, with Pelkey (16 points) and Logan Letourneau (12) also reaching double figures. The Yellowjackets fell to 3-10.

On Monday, the Otters overmatched another team, host D-IV Proctor, 64-44. Politano helped OV overcome an early deficit by hitting four of his five three-pointers in the first quarter, and OV rolled from there. Politano finished with 19 points to lead OV, followed by Pelkey with 17 and Letourneau with 14. Proctor, led by Jorden Cole’s 18 points, dropped to 5-9.

The Otters remained in the top four in the D-II standings with the three victories. They’re seeking the school’s first basketball title.

COMMODORES

This past Friday, the Commodores sailed past visiting Missisquoi, 60-29. Ryan Wright led the VUHS attack with 16 points, and Theo Elzinga scored eight points, while Cohen Howell chipped in with eight rebounds as the Commodores improved to 9-5 heading into their Wednesday game at Mount Abe, which was played after deadline for the newspaper.

TIGERS

On Saturday, the Tigers kept up their recent winning ways by topping visiting Mt. Anthony, 56-36. MUHS took a 24-7 lead after the first quarter and never looked back. Cooke Riney (19 points) and Taylor Altemose (12) led the scorers as the Tigers improved to 6-8 with their fourth win in five outings.

The Tigers were set to host Enosburg on Wednesday.

EAGLES

On Saturday, D-III Winooski improved to 10-3 by defeating the Eagles, 63-38. Spartan Oliver Mathis-Vallario scored 21 points, 10 in the first quarter, as Winooski took charge.

Germon led Mount Abe with eight points. The Eagles dipped to 6-7, heading into Wednesday’s game against VUHS.