COUNTY COURIER QUESTION OF THE WEEK: 02-17-2022
**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**
Which player(s) do you see being the biggest X-Factor for their team going down the stretch of the regular season and into the playoffs?
BEN KAUFMANN
The first one who comes to mind is Devyn Gleason in Enosburg. After all three losses to the Hornets this season, Missisquoi coach Matt Walker has referred to Gleason as some iteration of “the best player we’ve seen this year” with good reason. Gleason is undoubtedly the best scorer in Franklin County and he’ll have to come up big if Enosburg wants to win its first title since 2017. The Hornets have a tradition of playing a tough schedule which makes them look a little weaker on record than they actually are, then going on to play in the final-four in Barre (five trips in the last seven seasons). Defense is never a question for Chad Lovelette’s teams, but at some point they may need to score 65 points and a lot of that will fall to Gleason. The sharpshooting junior isn’t going to fly under anyone’s radar, so his contribution in a big win may end up being a dozen assists instead of 30 points. But my money is on a high-scoring night from Gleason somewhere along the playoff run en route to a return to glory for the Hornets.
MVU’s McKenzie Vincent will play a crucial role for the Thunderbirds if they are to make a playoff push. This season is already a huge success for the Thunderbirds, who are on pace for a first winning campaign since 1991, but there’s no reason the party has to end when the regular season does. When MVU has struggled this year it’s been because they simply can’t get the ball in the basket and Vincent offers their best shot at steady offense. Missisquoi has the potential to make outside shots but it’s not a part of the game the Thunderbirds can rely upon. Vincent, who has been on a big scoring run of late with more than 15 points in two of her team’s last three. Playoff success will also require strong offensive performances from the likes of Abigail Paquette, Destinee Pigeon and others, but I’m going with Vincent as the key – any big Thunderbird win from here on out will include a night of rebounds, post scoring and free throws from Vincent.
ANTHONY LABOR
When I first started thinking about some answers for this question, my mind went straight to the BFA-St. Albans boys basketball team. The Bobwhites seem to have a different high-scorer every night which is a good thing for them, and could make quite a few players on that roster an X-factor. But since I am trying to keep it to one player for the team, I am going to go with Seth Richards. In his last two games, Richards put up 12 points in the team’s win against Burlington on Monday and had 13 points against Colchester last Friday. Without even looking at his points against Colchester, he made the play that sparked the Bobwhites when they were down when he dunked late in the third quarter. From there the Bobwhites took over the game and held on for the win. My idea of an X-factor is someone who can make something happen whether they are the high-scorer on the team or making something happen in other ways. Richards has the capability to send that jolt through the bench and also be productive at the same time, which will be huge for the Bobwhites going down the stretch. And like I said above, there are so many players that produce for this team that there were a lot of good options here such as Thomas Demar, Noah Earl, Connor Leach etc. There are so many people who can be a threat on a given night, which will make the Bobwhites a tough out for anyone.
Jumping over to the ice for the BFA-St. Albans girls hockey team when talking about X-factor, it really is a scenario where it would just be (insert player on the roster here) and you wouldn’t be wrong. There is so much talent on the team with the number of players that can score on a given night for them, the quality of their defense and their solid goaltending. This was another tough choice to narrow it down to one because there are so many players to choose from that would be a correct answer. But since I have to choose one player per team, it’s got to be Sophie Zemianek. She is currently on a seven-game point streak and has a point in nine of the last 10. She has amounted 18 points over her seven-game streak with 10 goals and eight assists. But it’s not just about the points with her either. It’s her ability to come through in the clutch when the team needs it and her ability to score from anywhere on the ice. She can score from the blue line on slapshots or she is such a good skater she can skate deep into the zone and has a very good wristshot that goalies have difficulty stopping. She came up with the game-winner during the team’s 2-1 win over Hanover earlier this season in a very competitive game. Also last week against Essex, the Hornets were clearly making it a point to try and take Zemianek out of the game by keeping a body on her the whole time. She didn’t get frustrated though and with the team down by a goal in the third, she found a way to create separation and get off a wristshot to tie the game and from there it was all Comets. On that play against Essex, she showed off how good of a skate she is by creating space, but she’s also good enough that if she gets caught deep in the offensive zone, she can get back on defense quickly. For someone who plays defense, scoring 18 points in seven games and 37 points in the team’s 17 games on the season has been really impressive. And the fact that her defensive game doesn’t suffer from it is why she was my choice. But similar to the boys basketball team at BFA, there are a lot of options that could have been chosen with this team.
