Staff Report
LYNDON CENTER, Vt. — The top-seeded Lyndon girls basketball team ended Springfield’s season with a 54-37 win on Saturday in the Division II quarterfinals.
The Vikings jumped out to a 29-15 lead at halftime and pushed their lead to 20 at one point in the second half, but the Cosmos never went away.
Springfield cut the lead to as little as 11 points in the second half.
Freshman Macie Stagner had 11 points before fouling out late in the fourth quarter. Maddie Clark also had 11 for the Cosmos.
Brooke’lyn Robinson led the Vikings with 20 points, while Kadienne Whitcomb added 12.
The Cosmos finish at 11-11, while Lyndon advanced to play No. 4 Spaulding in the D-II semifinals.
Springfield loses Megan Stagner, Kayla Quelch and Gabbie Anders to graduation, but return a young and hungry group.
GIRLS BASKETBALLMMU 36, Rutland 35
JERICHO, Vt. — Just like they did when they squared off at Keefe Gymnasium earlier in the season, the No. 3 seed Mount Mansfield girls basketball team and No. 6 Rutland played a game with little separation on Saturday in the Division I quarterfinals.
The result ended up the same, as the Cougars inched out a 36-35 win to move onto the state semifinals.
The game was tied 12-12 after one and 19-19 at halftime, before Mount Mansfield led by one point heading into the fourth.
The Cougars grabbed a five-point lead midway through the frame, but Rutland didn’t go away, getting the deficit to one point with four seconds left.
Jade Diamond led all scorers with 14 points for Mount Mansfield, followed by 10 from Cherise Shamp. Mackenize McLaughlin had 10 to lead the Raiders, followed by nine from Karsyn Bellomo and eight from senior Olivia Shipley.
“It was a hard-fought game the whole way. The girls played hard,” said Rutland coach Nate Bellomo.
Rutland finished the season 12-10 and loses Shipley and Kathryn Moore to graduation.
Proctor 55, Northfield 39
PROCTOR, Vt. — Meghan Cole is making the most of her one season at Proctor. She scored 19 points and pulled down nine rebounds in Saturday’s 55-39 Division IV quarterfinal victory over Northfield at Almo Buggiani Gym.
Proctor’s Maggie McKearin led all scorers with 23 points.
Isabel Greb added nine points for the Phantoms.
“It was 41-30 after three quarters so they hung with us,” Proctor coach Joe McKearin said. “They are a good team.”
Piper Mattsson led the Marauders with 14 points before fouling out. Emma Karrow added nine points on three 3-point field goals.
Lake Region 44, OV 41
ORLEANS, Vt. — The No. 6 Otter Valley girls basketball team led at the half, but couldn’t hold on, falling to No. 3 Lake Region 44-41 Saturday afternoon in the Division III quarterfinals.
The Otters were up 26-24 at the half, but were outscored 12-5 in the third.
Sakoya Sweeney led all scorers with 26 points for the Rangers. Elena Politano paced the Otters with 12 points, while Anna Lee and Alice Keith added 11.
The Otters finished at 12-10, while Lake Region plays Williamstown in the D-III semifinals on Thursday at Barre Auditorium.
BOYS BASKETBALLMRU 53, L&G 52
NORTH CLARENDON, Vt. — The Mill River boys basketball team finished the regular season with a 53-52 win against Leland & Gray Saturday afternoon at Dean Houghton Gymnasium.
It was a game of runs and and Mill River led by five at the half. The Minutemen were up nine early in the fourth, but the Rebels battled to make it close down the stretch.
Adam Shum led Mill River with 18 points and Ryan Smith added 17. Jeremy Graves had 18 for Leland & Gray.
Mill River finished the regular season 4-16.
COLLEGE SOFTBALLCU successful in SC
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — The Castleton University softball team was busy on Saturday, playing three games and winning all of them to hike their record to 6-0.
The day began with an 8-0 victory over Northern Vermont University-Lyndon.
Jess Heinrichs andf Makenna Thorne led the Spartans with two hits apiece. Allie Almond and Kayla Fac each had a double in support of winning pitcher Olivia Joy, now 2-0.
Joy struck out 10 and did not surrender a walk during her two-hitter.
The day continued with a sweep of Massachusetts Maritime, 6-1 and 21-1.
Kate Lapan and Jamie Boyle led the Spartans in the first game with three hits apiece. Thorne had a triple and Hannah Mosher and Boyle slugged doubles.
Kylie Wright (four strikeouts, no walks) got the win and is 2-0.
Offensive honors were lengthy in the 21-1 game. Wright and Blake Richie had three hits each. Mosher, Almond, Boyle, Thorne, Madison Hanna and Angelise Moss each had two base hits.
Wright and Machaila Arjavich had home runs for the Spartans.
Katie Gallagher earned the victory.
Castleton suffered its first loss on Sunday against Shawnee State, falling 6-4.
The Spartans scored four runs in the fourth, but Shawnee scored in five different innings, including two in the seventh to secure the win.
Mosher drove in two of CU’s runs.
The Spartans (6-1) are off until March 26, when they host RPI for a Saturday doubleheader.
COLLEGE WRESTLING
CU earns spots
SPRINGFIELD, Mass. — Castleton University wrestlers Cooper Fleming and James Rodriguez are headed to the National Championships.
Fleming locked up his spot at the National Championships with a second-place finish at 174 pounds in the NCAA Northeast Regionals, while Rodriguez punched his ticket at 141 pounds with a third-place finish.
Castleton’s sixth-place finish as a team is the second-best result at the event in program history, one place behind the 2019 season’s fifth-place finish.
The Spartans had seven All-Region finishers. To be named All-Region, wrestlers must place in the top-eight finishers of their respective weight class. Castleton’s All-Region honorees were Michael Gonyea (133), Rodriguez (141), Nicholas Roeger (149), Michael Angers (165), Fleming (174), Chance LaPier (197) and Shea Garand (285).
COLLEGE TRACK
NCAA Regionals
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — David Harvey, JaQuincy Bostick, and Trever Rose represented the Castleton men’s track and field program at the Division III Regional Championship Saturday at Middlebury’s Virtue Field House. Each enjoyed strong indoor campaigns to qualify for the postseason meet.
Harvey placed 18th in the 60 meter hurdles prelims with a time of 8.85 seconds. Rookie Field Athlete of the Year Bostick placed 19th in the triple jump at 12.24 meters. Rose was 15th in the shot put with a throw of 13.09 meters.
COLLEGE HOCKEYNCAA Regionals
NORTHFIELD, Vt. — The fifth-seeded Castleton University women’s hockey team pulled off its biggest win of the season, knocking off No. 2 seed Norwich 1-0 Saturday afternoon in the New England Hockey Conference semifinals.
Darby Palisi scored the game’s lone goal on a power play with 6:33 to play in the third period, assisted by Courtney Gauthier and Emery Bonner.
The Cadets had a significant shot advantage, but Spartans goaltender Kirsten DiCicco stood on her head with 41 saves. Her Norwich counterpart Alexa Berg made 22 stops.
Junior forward Mikah Baptiste led Norwich with six shots on goal. Classmate Julia Masotta was 21-for-28 in the faceoff dot. The Cadets had two power play chances in the first period but were unable to score on either.
Norwich hit two posts just 20 seconds apart in the first period with Ann-Frederique Guay and Taylor Tom ringing shots off the post.
Castleton (15-9-2) will play in the NEHC championship game on Saturday against Elmira, who beat William Smith 4-0 in the conference semifinals.
Norwich’s (19-8-0) streak of 12 straight league championship game appearances was snapped with the loss. The last time the Cadets didn’t make the championship game was their very first varsity season in 2007-08.
adam.aucoin @rutlandherald.com
As your daily newspaper, we are committed to providing you with important local news coverage for Sullivan County and the surrounding areas.