HORNETS FALL IN RAZOR-CLOSE SEMIFINAL
By Ben Kaufmann
BARRE – Enosburg battled back valiantly from an eight-point deficit entering the final quarter of Wednesday’s Division II semifinal against Mt. Abraham, with the last of Lilly Robtoy’s team-high 19 points securing a 48-48 draw with under two minutes to play. The final four points of the game went to the Eagles, who earned a championship berth via a 52-48 victory.
No. 2 Enosburg finishes just shy of a first-ever Division II title-game berth and the No. 7 Eagles advance to face No. 4 Spaulding on Saturday afternoon for the crown. The Hornets (20-3) refused to go down without a fight despite struggling for the better part of the middle two quarters against a Mt. Abe (16-8) team which handed Enosburg one of its two regular-season losses.
“I couldn’t be more proud of them and the year that we had,” said Enosburg coach Gary Geddes. “We didn’t achieve the end goal, but one of our goals was to get here and we did as a top-four seed. Some days it’s your day and others you just have to take what you get.”
Robtoy led the way for Enosburg with a fiery performance. She matched Mt. Abe’s Abby Reen for the game-high point total and added an eye-popping eight steals, three rebounds, two assists and a block while committing just two turnovers.
After watching Robtoy’s effort all over the floor for 32 minutes, Geddes was asked if there was anything else his sophomore could have done.
“Swept the floor at halftime, maybe,” he answered with a smile. “What she’s done all year, her effort and her tenacity – she attacked the basket. Couldn’t ask for better effort. All of them, that’s a special group of kids.”
It looked in the opening minutes like Enosburg was going to ride a win in the turnover battle to a win in the game, even if that didn’t hold up for four quarters. Robtoy scored twice off steals in the opening minutes and Alexis Kittell got a free throw thanks to a Kayla Gervais steal as the favorites jumped out to a 7-3 lead. The Eagles bounced back over the latter half of the first quarter to knot the game at 9-9 going into the second.
Enosburg began having its own turnover problems as the first quarter closed and ceded a steal and two points on Mt. Abe’s first possession of the second. Even when Robtoy countered with a steal and layup of her own, she was stealing the ball back immediately after a Hornet turnover. Enosburg fell behind, 16-11, behind five straight points from Maia Jensen (who finished with 18). Not for the last time Wednesday, the Hornets bounced back; a tough layup from Robtoy, a three from Gervais and a free throw from Ryleigh Simmons gave Enosburg a 17-6 lead before Reen closed the first half with four straight points for a 21-17 Eagle advantage at halftime.
An offensive rebound from Allison Bowen set up an Adams basket to kick off the third and Adams hit a 10-footer following a pair of Reen free throws to keep Enosburg going. Bowen banked in a three to give the Hornets a 24-23 lead two minutes into the third and awaken the crowd. Jensen followed with a tough make before Adams hit another jumper and Robtoy tossed a long pass to a wide open Gervais for three and a 29-25 Hornet lead with 3:35 remaining in the quarter. But two coast-to-coast baskets from Robtoy were all Enosburg could muster offensively the rest of the quarter as a pair of Jensen threes led a 16-4 Eagle run to give the underdogs a 41-33 lead entering the final quarter.
“Their two players (Reen and Jensen) were tough tonight,” Geddes said. “It just came down to some executions and they made some and we didn’t. But can’t fault the girls, they gave 100% effort, every girl out on that court tonight.
Sometimes you get some breaks, sometimes you don’t. It just didn’t go our way tonight.”
One final time this season, Enosburg fought back. When Mt. Abe finally attempted a shot after running nearly a minute off the clock, Robtoy took the defensive rebound end-to-end and drew a foul – sinking both shots. An Eagle basket was answered with a Bowen hook shot off a nice inbound pass from Kittell and, of course, Robtoy followed with a steal and layup to cut the Mt. Abe lead to 43-39 with five minutes to go.
Kittell, who had just picked up her fourth foul, made a bold steal which led to a pair of Hornet free throw attempts. Though those shots didn’t fall, Kittell’s play drove home the “We came here to win!” message. She’d make another daring steal a couple of minutes later with better payout.
Still at 43-39, Mt. Abe made a layup with a foul which was promptly matched by Adams doing the same – though neither free throw fell. A pair of offensive rebounds by Simmons led to a Robtoy free throw to get the Hornets within three with just under four minutes to go. Mt. Abe responded with a foul shot (the second attempt went in but was whistled off for a violation). Down four, Adams made a hook shot off a Bowen assist and Kittell, unconcerned at this point with a fifth foul, came up with another steal which led to two Robtoy free throws to knot the game at 46-46 with 1:57 remaining.
“We just kept chipping away,” Geddes said. “Foul trouble plagued us a little bit as it has in the past, but we were able to keep with it.
We missed a few bunnies there, but you’ll have that. The effort was there and I can’t complain.”
Mt. Abe took the lead with an offensive rebound and putback before Robtoy made a tough shot through contact to even things up at 48-48 with 90 seconds left. Gervais then forced the Eagles out of bounds but Enosburg couldn’t capitalize on the opportunity. With 25 seconds left, Jensen hit a runner to put the Eagles back up. Enosburg missed its next attempt and though Robtoy got a hand on the rebound, the jump-ball call sent possession to the Eagles and a pair of Reen free throws closed the game out.
Adams finished with a dozen points, eight rebounds and four steals for the Hornets, who fall in the Division II semifinal for the second time in three years. Bowen chipped in seven points and Gervais finished with six. Kittell, who spent the final three quarters in foul trouble, finished with three and Simmons rounded out the Hornet scoring with a point.
The Hornets lose three vital seniors – Adams, Kittell and Zoe McGee – to graduation this spring and will see Abril Ciurana, an exchange student, depart as well. The remainder, led by Bowen, Gervais and Robtoy, will return in ’22-’23 on a mission.
“We’ve got a good core coming back and we got some experience here,” Geddes said.
Behind Reen – who finished 8/8 from the foul line – and Jensen, the Eagles will look to capture a fifth program championship when they take on Spaulding on Saturday in Barre.
