By Adam Aucoin
RUTLAND HERALD
HINESBURG, Vt. — The annual Vermont Basketball Coaches Association Senior All-Star games made their return Sunday with Champlain Valley Union High School acting as host.
It was the first time the event was held since 2019, after the last two All-Star events were canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The South team won the Division III/IV girls and boys games, while the North team won the Division I/II girls and boys games.
D-III/IV GirlsThe North team took a page out of the Baylor men’s basketball team’s book in the Division III/IV girls game that opened up the day.
The North came back from a massive deficit to tie the game in the closing minute, but Proctor’s Meghan Cole banged home a 3-pointer to propel the South to a 70-67 win.
The South was dominant right out of the gate and jumped out to a 21-0 lead before the North eventually got on the board.
Windsor post player Reese Perry, coming off a Division III state championship, was an impossible to contain, grabbing rebound after rebound and scoring 10 of her team-high 15 points in the first half. Perry had 15 rebounds for an emphatic double-double.
Perry’s Yellow Jackets’ teammate Elliott Rupp played a big role in the early going as well, scoring eight of her 10 points in the opening half.
The South led by 20 at the break, but the North found its groove in the second half. The North chipped away and eventually cut the deficit to single digits.
A late 15-3 run for the North eventually tied the game before Cole’s dagger 3.
Mount St. Joseph’s Tiana Gallipo, a 3-point marksman in her own right, knew the North wouldn’t go away easily.
“That’s what makes the game interesting,” Gallipo said. “Realistically, we’re all the best group of girls in Vermont, so it was a good game to play in.”
The game was a little extra special for Gallipo who got to play with Otter Valley’s Alice Keith and Brittney Jackson in her final game. Gallipo is from Pittsford so she grew up playing with many of the Otter Valley girls.
“We play a lot outside of school ball, but it was great to finish it off with them,” Gallipo said.
Gallipo, and MSJ teammate Brooke Bishop, also had the chance to play with their former teammate Cole, who transferred to Proctor this year.
Outside of Perry and Rupp’s scoring output, Windsor’s Peyton Richardson and Green Mountain’s Kim Cummings had eight points. Cole, Thetford’s Macey Smith and West Rutland’s Isabell Lanfear had six points apiece.
Winooski’s Kiara Mack led the North side with 12 points. BFA-Fairfax’s Hazel Albee and Oxbow’s Emma Parkin had eight points, while the Olympians’ Alexa Kosakowski had seven and Rivendell’s Alex McFale had six.
D-III/IV Boys
In the Division III state championship game, White River Valley’s Dominic Craven was on the wrong side of a buzzer-beating 3, but the Wildcats guard changed the narrative on Sunday.
Craven banked in a late 3-pointer that was the eventual game-winner in an 88-86 win for the South team.
It was the final charry on top of the comeback sundae for the South.
Unlike the game before it, the first half was pretty back and forth. It wasn’t until the North scored 10 of the last 13 points in the first half that the North took a seven-point lead into the half.
The North continued to build on that momentum after the break. The lead swelled to double figures and the North kept it consistently in that range for much of the half.
The North led by as much as 15, before the South came on strong late in the contest. The South got the deficit down to one in the closing minute, before Craven buried the game-winner.
Williamstown boys coach Jack Carrier was the coach of the North team. It was his last game coaching high school ball. Carrier’s Blue Devils were eliminated in the Division III semifinals, but Sunday provided a much more relaxed way for the legendary coach to go out.
“It was a lot of fun,” Carrier said. “You get these guys together and have a blast with a bunch of kids you’ve played against and watched play for the last four years.”
The South team was led by 15 points from Windsor’s Kaleb Swett, followed by 14 from Craven. Long Trail’s Tomasz Koc and Rivendell’s Kyle Carter had 12 apiece, while the Raptors’ Chris Pierce had eight. Green Mountain’s Everett Mosher had seven points, all in the first half.
Williamstown’s Thomas Parrott, a known sharpshooter from deep, had a pair of 3s and 12 points. Teammate Blake Clark had 11 points, while Northfield’s Carson Smit and Randolph’s Andrew Lewis had 10 apiece. Vergennes’ Tim Ashley tacked on eight, while Northfield’s Caiden Crawford-Stempel had seven.
D-I/II Girls
The North team controlled the third game of the day early on and didn’t let go of that grip for the whole game, winning 81-50.
The North flexed its muscles with a 9-0 run to start the game and pushed its lead to 13 before, the South responded with a 7-0 run.
The South kept the game at arm’s reach for a while, but the North got hot as the half progressed and pushed the lead to 24 at the break.
The shots kept falling for the North in the second half, especially from long range. The North drained nine treys in the second half, four of which coming from CVU’s Allison Bates. Bates led the North with 15 points.
Following Bates was Mount Mansfield’s Jada Diamond and Enosburg’s Alexis Kittel, both with 10 points. Chloe Snipes had seven, while Paige Winter had six.
Woodstock’s Emma Tarleton led the South attack with eight points, all coming the second half, followed by seven from South Burlington’s Greta Heldman. Brattleboro’s Chloe Givens, Spaulding’s Autumn Lewis and South Burlington’s Mercedes Rozzi had six apiece. Rutland’s Kathryn Moore had five, while teammate Olivia Shipley had four, along with Hartford’s Beth Dobrich.
D-I/II Boys
A dominant early stretch was the difference in the North’s 92-77 win in the final game of the day.
The North jumped out to a 15-0 lead to open the game and pushed the lead to 20-2 at one point.
The South responded well as the game progressed and eventually got the deficit down to a one-possession game, but never got over the hump.
The closing minutes of the game were more about putting on a show for the fans in attendance. Players tried to set their teammates up for dunks to wow the crowd.
Defense was traded in for highlight reel offense, but at the end of the day, it’s an all-star game and fun was the main dish on the menu.
Montpelier’s Jonah Cattaneo tossed a few lobs to his Rashid Nikiema in the closing minutes. Those meant a little extra to him.
“It felt good. It’s probably the last time I’m going to be able to do it,” Cattaneo said. “I ended it on a high. I love being out here with two of my teammates, Rashid and Will (Bruzzese). I love those guys.”
Colchester’s Jackson Miller led the North with 18 points, followed by 15 from Nikiema. Cattaneo, Mount Mansfield’s Sean Farrell, South Burlington’s Khalon Taylor and Milton’s Colin Mathis had nine points, while Essex’s Andrew Goodrich tacked on eight.
Hartford’s Jacob Seaver paced the South with 14 points. South Burlington’s Fritz Hauser (12 points), Burr and Burton Academy’s Madox Mathews (11) and Fair Haven’s Brandon Eastman (10) joined him in double figures. Rutland’s Trey Davine and Jack Coughlin had eight and six points respectively. Rutland’s Slade Postemski and MSJ’s Andre Prunty also found their way into the scorebook.
Awards
Jonah Cattaneo and Paige Winter brought home the biggest hardware of the night, as they were awarded the VBCA Player of the Year awards.
“I set goals for myself. I wanted to win a state championship, I wanted to score 1,000 points and I wanted to get as many awards as possible,” Cattaneo said.
Cattaneo was a key cog in the Montpelier boys basketball team winning its second straight D-II boys crown.
Winter was a player who did it all for the Essex girls. She wouldn’t always wow opponents with her scoring but did a lot of little things to make the Hornets successful. Essex made it to the D-I semifinals, before losing to Rice.
Among the handful of special awards given out, the Stretch Gillam Award went to Brattleboro’s Zinabu McNeice and the Tommy Fennell Award went to CVU assistant Sofia Lozon.
The 3-point contest winners were Rupp, Craven, Nikiema and Mount Abraham’s Abigail Reen.
adam.aucoin @rutlandherald.com
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