CHESTER, Vt. — During its two-year run as VPA Division III state champion, the Thetford Academy boys basketball team thrived by knowing it had a full 20-game season to become a complete unit. So when the end came to a pandemic-shortened campaign, it wasn’t so much that the Panthers ran out of time as they never had enough.
Top-ranked Green Mountain ended Thetford’s championship reign with a 14-0 burst to close the first quarter en route to a 75-51 victory in a D-III semifinal on Wednesday night. The explosion turned an 18-14 Thetford lead into a 28-18 deficit from which the 12th-seeded Panthers (4-7) never recovered.
It’s about this time in a normal schedule — just past the halfway point — when coach Jason Gray’s crew starts to show signs of another run toward Barre Auditorium. COVID-19 cut that slate in half, and it ultimately played the biggest role in Thetford’s demise.
The Chieftains’ back-breaking close to the opening stanza, their dominant second-quarter rebounding and their general overall athleticism certainly helped.
“That’s a good team; they do have some pretty good, athletic kids,” Gray said. “Hard thing is we’ve been able to go to the Auditorium two years in a row, and everything’s kind of up in the air. You try not to look by teams, but I think some of these guys did. It’s tough.”
The Chieftains (11-1) will play in their first state title game in school history on Sunday at the Aud. They did it behind 22 points from senior Ty Merrill, another 12 — including some huge 3-pointers — from junior Branden Rose and four other guys who contributed at least eight points each.
GM coach Brian Rappanotti thinks his squad has been somewhat overlooked this winter, playing a regional schedule almost entirely filled with D-IV opponents. A 58-57 overtime escape from No. 8 Vergennes in Saturday’s quarterfinals set up Wednesday’s win, and he hopes there’s more to come.
“We certainly put it together against a better opponent,” Rappanotti said. “We’ve played that way this year. ... We were ready. We can clearly show we’re athletic, maybe more athletic that a lot of these teams. We’re pretty good.”
Green Mountain’s Jack Boyle, a transfer from neighboring Black River High, slapped the opening tap away from Thetford’s Eli Dunnet, setting up a game-opening layup from teammate Sawyer Pippin (eight points). The race was on.
The Chieftains ran four players high and one low on offense, weaving and slicing to shake off Thetford defenders and create good scoring opportunities. Merrill capitalized most, scoring six straight points and eight of Green Mountain’s first 14 in barely three minutes.
The veteran Panthers shook it off, riding Dunnet’s strong inside play to the 18-14 lead with 3:01 left in the opening quarter. The big senior netted six of his team-high 19 points in the first period. Fellow senior Jackson Ransom (15 points) had five in the first, and yet another fourth-year, guard Nick Gray, sank a foul-line jumper to set Thetford’s cushion.
“Really, the biggest thing that affected us was the short season,” Dunnet said. “Every year I’ve played on this team, it’s taken 10 games to get into a real groove and actually do what we do best. And this year, obviously, so short. Not enough time to do anything.”
Green Mountain’s quarter-closing charge came with a healthy barrage from a distance.
Boyle (nine points) started it, and Rose put the hosts ahead to stay with a 3-pointer with 1:25 left in the quarter. After two Thetford misses at the line, Rose stuck another triple for a 22-18 advantage.
Everett Mosher (eight points) closed the period with two trifectas of his own for the 28-18 lead at the buzzer. The Chieftains then outrebounded TA in the second quarter, building a 20-9 advantage on the glass by the half, with a 45-27 scoreboard edge to show for it.
“Our passing was a lot better than it was the other three quarters,” Dunnet said of Thetford’s strong start. “We were consistent with shots, not forcing jump shots, getting the hole where we do our best. ... (It was) defense. We didn’t have the energy. We weren’t getting back in time. We knew this was going to happen in practice, we knew what we were working against. We didn’t have the energy.”
After TA’s Jacob Gilman scored to open the second quarter, GM ran off the next 11 points to grab hold of the game. Gilman finished with seven points and Gray added six for the Panthers.
“In a 20-game schedule, this team is probably the most dangerous team in the bunch,” Jason Gray said of his bunch. “Being shut down to doing only 11 games, it’s tough. These guys started clicking at the end. We came out and tried to put a best foot forward, and it didn’t really work.”
Free Throws: Thetford had eliminated Green Mountain in the D-III first round twice in the last four years, including last season. ... The Chieftains’ last semifinal visit, in 2004, resulted in a 61-43 loss to the Panthers at the Aud. TA went on to win the championship, one of five in school history. ... GM had lost its seven previous boys hoop semifinals before Wednesday’s win. ... Thetford graduates seven: Dunnet, Ransom, Nick Gray, Kobe Pierson, Ryen Wolfe, Ty Clay and Max Higgins.
Greg Fennell can be reached at gfennell@vnews.com or 603-727-3226.