By CHRIS LaCLAIR
Eagle Times Sports Editor
SPRINGFIELD, VT — During a pep talk to uplift his players, Springfield head varsity basketball coach Kraig Harlow told them, “Before you see rainbows, it must storm.”
They certainly saw the storm come to town when the Hartford Hurricanes unleashed a storm of their own, a vicious hurricane that resulted in a 96-30 Hurricanes victory. The loss snapped the two-game winning streak to start the season for the Cosmos, which was the first time in 15 years that they had done so.
The Hurricanes got the score started when Ayo Lowe stole the inbounds pass under the hoop. His pressure on the Cosmos defense resulted in several turnovers.
“Ayo really sets the tone in our press and has really been our floor general early in year,” said Mike Gaudette, Hartford varsity basketball head coach.
The Cosmos got an early spark when James Gultekin drilled a three pointer to get the crowd into the game. That was quickly answered when Hartford’s Christian Hathorn came down the court to match it with a 3 of his own, the first of many for the Hurricanes.
Lowe matched his defensive prowess with the same energy on offense. He challenged big man Nick Weise at the basket and finished the layup while avoiding the block. This wasn’t the easiest task at hand as Weise blocked several shots in the first half.
Hartford’s Brody Tyburski used his big football frame to muscle his way for a nice finish while being fouled to complete the “And 1.” Tyburski, like several of his teammates, is a very athletic kid. You can’t help but be in awe of the Hurricanes athleticism from the starters to the third rotation off the bench.
More steals from the Hurricane defense led to several opportunities and scores for Hartford throughout the first half. The Cosmos was trying to make long lateral passes and passes over the jumping Hurricane defenders that continued to get picked off against the trap defense.
Hartford would take a 24-8 lead into the second quarter. Noah Danieli would drill a 3 to start the scoring followed up by a quick “And 1” from Hathorn and then Danieli found the bottom of the net on another 3 pointer.
Before the Cosmos knew it, the first half buzzer sounded with the Hurricanes in complete control with a 54-15 halftime lead.
Oliver Kelly would give the crowd another reason to cheer when he hit a hesitant 3 point shot from the right side that was a thing of beauty. Gultekin would come down with his best impersonation of Giannis’ euro step as Jamese euro stepped around defenders for a layup to the left side of the paint.
Rising Hurricane star Kole Fotion, who had gone viral in NH basketball social media feeds for throwing down a windmill dunk in warmups, hit his second 3 of the night to stop the small Cosmos run.
“We passed well and played good as a team,” said Kole Fotion. “Our defense in the beginning brought a lot intensity.”
Just as the buzzer for the third quarter was about to sound, Hartford’s Zach Johnson hit a long distance 3 and celebrated in fashion with 3-point hand gestures and several moments of celebration that send the Hurricanes to the bench with a commanding 74-20 lead.
The Cosmos emptied their bench to start the 4th quarter to humbly accept defeat and rest their starters, as well as avoiding injury to them. You wouldn’t think they were down so big with the amount of cheering from the bench for the reserve players. It is exactly what a team acts like that would be nominated for a sportsmanship banner in their gym.
The extra minutes gave Jacob Bennett a chance to show off some moves. He successfully beat the defenders with a tough “Shammgod” move (named after Brooklyn’s God Shammgod who created the unique crossover) to get to the paint where he two hand, underhand scooped shot the ball with the foul. He then came back down the court and stuck a sweet 3 pointer to get the crowd and the bench hyped.
“We shot well tonight, and I liked our intensity,” said Gaudette. “We didn’t play well on Saturday and the kids knew it. They came out tonight with effort on both ends of court.”
All told, it was a good game of athleticism between the two teams.
“Hartford is a great team. Three games in and I could see them winning a state title this season,” said Harlow. “Mike is doing a great job with them and continuing the success from last season. I think we did some things well and some things wrong. Definitely a game where we got better even if the score doesn’t reflect it. I’m proud of how our starters were on the bench and chanting the next guys up. That’s a great start to what kind of culture I’m trying to cultivate in Springfield.”
The Hurricanes had five players score in double digits led by Lowe with 20 points, Noah Danieli with 16 points, Evan Lynds with 13 points, Fotion with 10 points and Hathorn with 10 points.
The Cosmos was led in scoring by James Gultekin and Oliver Kelley with 13 points.
Now that the storm is over, the rainbow will form allowing the Cosmos to battle another day.
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