By DAN BARILE
Eagle Times Correspondent
LANGDON, N.H. — Despite experiencing few losses to graduation, both Newport and Fall Mountain look like different teams this season.
Fall Mountain has benefitted from the return of Clara Stewart and Riley Beckwith, who missed last season due to injuries. Newport has also benefited from the return of two of its top players with Zoey Lord transferring back from Proctor Academy and Taylor Fellows returning from injury.
While each of the aforementioned athletes played major roles in Wednesday’s contest, it was Beckwith and Stewart who helped lead their team to victory, as Fall Mountain rolled to a 45-32 win.
The first quarter was a bit of a defensive struggle that resulted in Newport holding a 9-6 edge as the buzzer sounded. Fall Mountain’s offense finally began to click in the second period as they crashed the offensive glass and converted several easy buckets. Stewart went off for 10 points during the quarter and Beckwith added six points by converting three consecutive putbacks for the Wildcats.
After outscoring Newport by 12 points in the second quarter, Fall Mountain kept its foot on the accelerator by outscoring Newport 16-2 in the third period. Abby Jarvis connected on a couple of threes for the Wildcats, while Sophie Grillone and Beckwith each tallied five points to help Fall Mountain enter the fourth quarter with a commanding 42-19 lead.
Newport was able to slow down Fall Mountain’s offensive attack in the final frame, but the deficit proved to be too great to overcome. Fall Mountain moved to 3-0 with the victory and is likely turning some heads after an impressive victory over a significantly improved Newport team (2-1).
Riley Beckwith led Fall Mountain with 16 points, Clara Stewart was next with 11, and Abby Jarvis followed with nine. Taylor Fellows was the top scorer for Newport with 11 points and Zoey Lord added eight.
