COUNTY COURIER QUESTION OF THE WEEK: 02/10/2022
**Each week, the County Courier sports staff will answer one “Question of the Week” in regards to the high school sports scene. Check back each Thursday to see what question we are answering and don’t forget to pick up a copy of the County Courier on Thursdays**
What team(s) do you see making a deep run in the postseason?
BEN KAUFMANN
It feels like cheating to pick either BFA-St. Albans hockey team – the playoffs don’t really start at Collins Perley until at least the quarterfinals. But I can see a handful of local basketball teams making a push, some as a dark horse and some as a favorite (I’d include the Bobwhite and Enosburg boys teams but I’ll let our man Landon explain those picks in more depth below):
-Enosburg girls: Always dominant in the regular season, though no championship berth since winning it all in 2016. The Hornets have bowed out as a #8, #4, #2, #4 and #3 prior to the title-game since then but I think this year’s team is built to go the distance. Everyone coach Gary Geddes puts on the floor can handle the ball and nobody scores an easy basket on Enosburg. This team doesn’t want any part of a 60-55 game but that may not be necessary. I really like this Hornet team to win a fifth program championship and first in Division II.
-Missisquoi girls basketball: I promise this isn’t a typo. Missisquoi (9-4) is en route to its first winning season since 1991 and its nine wins are already its best total since that year with plenty of season left. So, to be sure, even a first-round playoff exit wouldn’t put a damper on MVU’s best season in more than three decades. In 1992, MVU won a playdown game and hasn’t won any postseason game other than a pair of play-ins since. That could very well change this season with a group of girls having a lot of fun playing great basketball. Like Enosburg, MVU plays strong defense but sometimes leaves some to be desired offensively. It would be a little aggressive to say that MVU can win its first-ever championship this season, but a trip to the final-four in Barre is very much on the table.
-BFA-Fairfax boys: A true dark-horse at 4-7 as of this writing. This Bullet group is a real hit or miss team with some forgettable losses and a handful of impressive performances. Coach Dave Demar is pretty skilled at using the season to put pieces together so his squad is playoff ready. If the Bullets pull off a playoff upset or two, it will likely be from a big night of backcourt play from Evan Fletcher or Riley Greene or a high-scoring post performance from sophomore Reed Stygles.
-Milton boys: Wise playoff opponents will ignore Milton’s sub-.500 record. You’d be hard pressed to find a team more impacted by injuries and various absences than these Yellow Jackets. When Milton has all of its pieces on the court, they’re as tough a game as any in Division II. Sophomore Ben Godin has exploded onto the scene with some massive scoring nights. The rest of the state already knows about Colin Mathis, which makes things tough if he has to be the top scorer. Mathis thrives as a distributor who can score if ignored – if Milton can add scoring from elsewhere, good luck beating up on them.
-Richford boys: Richford has a grand total of two playoff wins since its last championship in 2002, but don’t be surprised if they double (or better) that total this postseason. Richford is scrappy, has a tremendous backcourt and some athletic bigs. The Falcons will need some favorable matchups as they’ve struggled against the strongest of teams, but given the right circumstances we can expect a strong showing in these playoffs and over the next few years.
LANDON POTVIN
I can see the Enosburg Hornets (6-4) making another deep run into the playoffs. They lost a valuable clutch shooter in Owen McKinstry but have other significant players getting another full year of varsity basketball under their belts. Shea Howrigan is hitting threes and anchoring the defense with Danny Antillon off the bench, and the Hornets have two big men capable of taking over games on both ends of the floor.
Last season for EFHS was memorable because of the incredible shots they made as time expired. A halfcourt shot in round one to force OT and a banked three with seconds left by then-sophomore Devyn Gleason in round two. Speaking of Gleason, he will most likely be the best player on the floor in just about any game the Hornets play. His shot-making and passing ability instantly make the Hornets a contender.
The Hornets are in sixth place in Division III and have a favorable schedule for the rest of the season. If they can finish 7-0 or 6-1, I think it is possible they can have two home playoff games and get back to Barre Auditorium.
The other team I am closely watching for a playoff run is the BFA Bobwhites (6-6). The best thing about boy’s Division I basketball this season is anyone has a chance to win it all. There is not a team that looks like they are unbeatable. Last week, 3-10 MMU beat 10-2 Rice, and 12-3 CVU beat 9-1 St. Johnsbury.
BFA has shown they can hang with any team in Division I. They beat MMU, lost to CVU by two and St. J by less than five on the road. They have also not had a game where the top four players, whoever that may be, click on the same night. BFA has a demanding schedule the rest of the season and, as a team, they still have things to figure out offensively. However, in their game against CVU on Tuesday, BFA played probably its best all-around game. They had the lead the whole game and held an 11-point lead with four minutes left.
The Bobwhites have two more tests at the end of this week. They travel to Essex on Thursday night and host the Colchester Lakers for senior night on Friday. With all that being said, I do believe the Bobwhites can make a serious push and reach a title game for the first time in 35 years.
ANTHONY LABOR
I normally submit my answer after everyone else’s are normally in to try and avoid repetition if possible, but I agree with both Landon and Ben on all the team’s they chose. With that being said, both BFA hockey teams are obvious candidates as Ben said, so I will go more in depth with them here. The Bobwhites are 12-2 after a 5-0 win over Spaulding on Wednesday with their lone losses coming against Essex and Rice in close games. In the Essex game, a tough second period where Essex scored back-to-back goals was the difference in the 3-1 victory. Against Rice, the Bobwhites spent too much time in the penalty box with the Green Knights scoring two powerplay goals in the 2-1 contest. I don’t expect the Bobwhites to make the same mistakes they made in those games going forward for the rest of the regular season and postseason. They have plenty of options on the offensive side that can score at any minute and create opportunities with the likes of Levi Webb, Sean Beauregard, Colin Audy, Matt Merrill, Liam Wood, and Aiden Savoy among others. And they have a solid core with Ethan Audy, Cam Piper, Gavin Fraties, Corbin Schreindorfer and Cam Johnson on the defensive side with goalie Michel Telfer anchoring them. It’ll be tough for opponents to score a lot on the Bobwhites, so as long as they can get a few tallies on the board, they will be in good shape against any opponent. It’ll be interesting to see how the Bobwhites finish out the year with a game against Colchester on Saturday followed by a road trip to a rematch with Essex next week and finishing out with home games against Rutland and South Burlington. This team should be able to get one of the top three seeds in the state with them, Essex and Rice being the top three favorites going into the playoffs.
And going over to the Comets, what more can be said about what this team has done this season? After a 5-2 come-from-behind win over rival Essex on Wednesday, they are now 14-0 on the year. They have outscored opponents 92-30 so far this season and have found a knack for scoring in bunches like they did on Wednesday scoring four goals in the final six minutes of the game. The top line of Jodie Gratton, Caroline Bliss and Bri Jarvis has to be one of the best, if not the best, lines in the state. All three can make things happen whether they are shooting the puck or distributing. It’s one thing for a team to have one “go-to” line, but the Comets have been rolling four lines deep all year and don’t miss a beat with anyone on the ice. Maddie Montagne, Faith Reed, Seneca Lamos, Annika Fersing, Amber Poquette, and Reese Clayton have also been productive throughout the year whether it shows up on the scoresheet or not. And going to the defense, Sophie Zemianek showed on Wednesday what she can do when a team gives her a little bit of space. Essex was focused on shutting her down all game long and when she got a little bit of room, she came away with the game-tying goal. Along with Zemianek, Rowan Howrigan, Rachel Needleman, Molly Smith, Rae Alexander and Ayla Shea have all played extremely well on the defensive side and also help create a number offensive opportunities with the way they can all move the puck around and get pucks on net through traffic. And the defense is anchored by two goalies who have had really solid seasons so far in sophomore Makenna Montgomery and freshman Erin Jackson. The Comets have played in plenty of blowouts so far this year, but they have also played in quite a few close, hard-fought games. Montgomery and Jackson have been called upon a number of times to make big stops in key situations and they have continued to come through in the clutch when needed. Really anyone on this team could come up with the clutch play in a game on any given night. The Comets will have one of their toughest tests of the season when they travel to Spaulding on Saturday. The Crimson Tide will go into that game with only one loss on the season, which came in a 5-3 game against the Comets, so this will be a big game for both clubs. The Comets will finish the season on a four-game homestand with tough games against South Burlington (who led the Comets 2-0 after the first period in their first matchup which ended up being a 7-4 BFA win) and CVU/MMU which kept things close in a 3-1 game. It will be a fight at the top of the Division I rankings with BFA and Spaulding battling it out for the top seed. It will be a big advantage to get the top seed to avoid playing Essex in a semifinal matchup. Sure Essex isn’t dominating teams like they have in years past, but it’s still Essex that showed on Wednesday they are still a very good program and could be dangerous in the postseason. Even at a 14-0 record, the BFA coaching staff and the players aren’t settling by any means and continue to improve each and every day, which is why I like them going up against any other team throughout the course of the postseason.
