Playoff pairings announced: Wildcats stay home, Rebels hit the road
Twin Valley's Colin McHale, #10, tries to pass the ball upcourt while Leland & Gray's Matt Emerson defends during a game last month. McHale's Wildcats will open the D4 tournament hosting Richford Wednesday evening. Emerson's Rebels will travel to Williamstown Wednesday to begin the D3 championship chase.
SOUTHERN VERMONT- The Vermont Principals Association announced basketball final rankings and pairings for the upcoming high school tournament this morning.
For local teams, the Twin Valley boys and girls teams each finished in sixth place in the final D4 rankings. That means home games in Whitingham for the first round of the playoffs.
The Twin Valley boys' varsity finished with a 5-2 record, winning five in a row after dropping their first two games. They will host the eleventh seed, 1-7 Richford, on Wednesday at 5 pm.
The pairing is notable because the trip from Richford to Whitingham is one of the longest road trips for any high school matchup in the state. The travel time between the two schools is approximately four hours, stretching from the Canadian border to just shy of the Massachusetts border.
A year ago, the Twin Valley girls' varsity had to make the trip north to Richford for a first round game, one which ended the Wildcats' season. This year, thanks to a 5-3 record, they will be hosting the nearby Arlington Eagles at 6 pm Tuesday.
If the Twin Valley girls win they will travel on Friday to Quechee for a 6 pm game with third-seeded Mid-Vermont Christian. They two teams know each other well. MVC (7-2) beat the Wildcats at Sharon last month, 49-31, in a game that was close through the first three quarters before Twin Valley got into foul trouble and the Eagles pulled away.
Should the Twin Valley boys make the second round, they will head to Plainfield to take on 5-2 Twinfield High School, also the third seed. The two teams were slated to play last month before a snowstorm wiped out the game, which couldn't be rescheduled.
The Leland & Gray boys' varsity will be hitting the road for the division 3 playoffs. The 11th-seeded Rebels will be traveling to Williamstown on Wednesday. The Rebels finished 3-4, winning three out of their final four games. Williamstown (5-3) is the sixth seed.
The Bellows Falls boys (5-4) earned the D3 third seed, and will host BFA Fairfax. Should the Rebels and the Terriers win their first-round games, they would meet in the quarterfinal round at Bellows Falls on Saturday.
The Leland & Gray girls opted out of the D3 tournament. The Bellows Falls girls (3-4) slotted in as the D3 ninth seed and will travel to Otter Valley (3-4) for an eight-nine matchup.
The Arlington boys finished 2-3, good for the ninth seed in D4 and a trip to Blue Mountain on Wednesday. The winner of that game will take on top-seeded Danville (8-0) on Saturday.
Twin Valley home games are streamed live and on demand at www.nfhsnetwork.com. For complete pairings and ranking visit www.vpaonline.org.
