Wildcats drop close season opener


Twin Valley senior guard Liam Wendel, #13, takes a free throw during Tuesday’s game with Mount Saint Joseph. Screenshot from NFHS Network

WHITINGHAM- The high school basketball season has tipped off over the past week, and the Twin Valley Middle High School boys’ varsity has already played three games in five days. On Friday and Saturday, they played in the Bob Abrahamson Tournament at Proctor High School, and on Tuesday they played in the opening round of the annual Green Mountain High School holiday tournament. Unfortunately, the Wildcats came out on the losing end of all three games.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” said coach Chris Brown on Wednesday. He added that the first order of business will be getting the entire team healthy, as injuries and illness have limited player availability.
On Friday the Wildcats lost a 39-38 heartbreaker to Poultney in the opening round of the Abrahamson tournament.
Twin Valley led for much of the first half, but were down four points late in the game. Junior Noah Dornburgh hit a three-point shot with five seconds left, but the Wildcats couldn’t get the ball back before the clock ran out.
“It started off well,” said Brown. “We had an opportunity to win the game.”
Saturday’s consolation game with host Proctor was a different story, as the Wildcats fell into an early hole and couldn’t dig their way out of it. The Phantoms led 23-5 after the first quarter. Twin Valley was able to cut the lead somewhat in the second, but still trailed 35-20 at halftime. The teams were even in the second half, but Proctor rode its early lead to the 56-39 win.
Seniors Liam Wendel and Caleb Dupuis led Twin Valley with 13 and 10 points. First-year Brian Sullivan added eight points.
“We didn’t compete as much in the first half,” said Brown. “We played better as the game went on, but we got behind the eight ball and played catch-up all night.”
Twinfield beat Poultney 43-32 in the championship round on Saturday.
The Wildcats ran into a buzz saw Tuesday night in Chester, as D2 powerhouse Mount Saint Joseph Academy cruised to a 79-21 win in the Green Mountain tourney opening round.
“We were totally overmatched,” said Brown. “Plus we only had seven suited up last night. There was not a lot of cohesiveness out there. The guys were  not ready to be out there against a team like MSJ.”
Owen Traynor dropped 41 points for the Mounties to lead all scorers.
Despite the early-season losses, Brown said the team has competed hard and not quit.
The Wildcats return six players from last year, led by seniors Wendel, Dupuis, Joe Crafts, Luke Wrathall, and Matt Hammond.  Juniors Cody Magnant and Dornburgh also are back.  However, Hammond and Magnant have been out with injuries.
New to the Wildcats this season are senior Cooper Adams and first-year players Steven Oyer, Carson McHale, Chris Eckert, and Sullivan.
“Hopefully it’s sooner rather than later to get everybody back,” said Brown.
The Wildcats play Green Mountain in the consolation game today at 4:30 pm. On Tuesday, December 20, they travel to West Rutland for a 6 pm game. On January 6 they head to the Long Trail School in Dorset. The Wildcats won’t play their first home game until January 10 when they host Arlington at 7 pm.

The Deerfield Valley News

797 VT Route 100 North
Wilmington, VT 05363

Phone: 802-464-3388
Fax: 802-464-7255

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