Local roundup: WRV girls return from long break, top Raptors

SOUTH ROYALTON — The White River Valley girls basketball team hadn’t hit the floor for a game in 17 days when the Wildcats hosted Rivendell on Saturday. It proved to be worth the wait.

WRV built a six-point lead after one quarter, gradually extending it the rest of the way for a 37-24 victory.

The Wildcats saw their early lead halved by halftime, extending it to eight after three quarters, 25-17, and maintaining control from there.

Senior Ella Perrault had 11 points, freshman Ashlyn Rhoades finished with 10 and sophomore Tanner Drury had nine for White River Valley. Savannah Gray scored 10 points to lead the way for Rivendell.

“Offense struggled early to get a rhythm, but our defense played well,” said White River Valley coach Tim Perrault.

White River Valley (6-3) is at Mount St. Joseph on Thursday. Rivendell (2-7) travels to Bellows Falls Tuesday.

RUTLAND — Senior Hayley Goodwin’s 23 points and four blocks were a key part of the Eagles’ win, but it was the overall defensive effort that Mid Vermont Christian coach Chris Goodwin was most happy about.

“Clearly it was out best defensive effort of the season,” Goodwin said. “I felt we really made progress with our defense today, especially our help defense. We also were able to hold our own in the rebounding department even though they had some size on us.”

Rachel Horner-Richardson had 12 points for the Eagles, and Goodwin said she did an excellent job holding Mount St. Joseph’s top scorer, Tiana Gallipo, to 12 points while making seven steals. Freshman Alyssa Roberts had six points for Mid Vermont.

MVCS (4-4) is atTrinity Christian on Tuesday.

BRADFORD, Vt. — Up by two points, 36-34, after three quarters, the Olympians were held to one point over the final eight minutes in a loss to the Wolves at Mona Garone Gym.

Senior Alexa Kosakowski led Oxbow with 10 points, with senior Emma Parkin scoring seven and junior Abagail Carson netting six.

Oxbow led by five after the first quarter and by seven at halftime, 26-19. PA reversed that with a 27-11 edge after the break.

Oxbow (4-5) heads to Lakes Region on Tuesday.

WEARE, N.H. — The Raiders got 14 points each from seniors Molly Smith and Ella Longacre and a strong defensive effort from senior Clara Smyrski for the win.

Lebanon built a 23-15 halftime lead, but the Generals stormed back in the third quarter to trail by one, 32-31, before the Raiders regained control.

Junior Maddie Newton had nine points for Lebanon, which improved to 8-3 and welcomes Souhegan on Monday.

PELHAM, N.H. — Junior Stella Galanes led a balanced scoring attack with 20 points as Hanover remained perfect in NHIAA Division II play.

Hanover got scoring contributions from 10 players. Senior Melissa Whitman had 12 for the visitors.

Hanover (12-0) is at Manchester West on Monday.

ORLEANS, Vt. — The Rangers got 24 points from Sakoya Sweeney to hand Windsor only its second loss of the year and first against VPA Division III opposition.

The Yellowjackets struggled offensively until scoring 18 points in the final quarter.

The teams were tied at eight after one when Lake Region slowly pulled away, leading by five at halftime and by 11, 35-24, after three quarters.

Seniors Peyton Richardson had 16 points to lead Windsor followed by senior Reese Perry’s 10 and senior Elliot Rupp’s six. Perry also had 16 rebounds, and senior Karen Kapuscinski six boards.

Windsor (9-2) is at Thetford on Tuesday.

WOODSTOCK — The Wasps came up against hot-shooting Burr & Burton, which hit eight three-pointers in the win.

“A combination of being rusty from not playing in nine days, injuries and foul trouble doomed us on top of an opposing team that shot the lights out,” said Woodstock coach Dennis Wood.

Seniors Lara Tarleton had seven points and Megan Tarleton five for the Wasps.

Woodstock (5-5) is home to Otter Valley on Tuesday.

BERLIN, N.H. — The Royals had an explosive second half, erasing a five-point halftime deficit and outscoring Berlin, 40-17, after the break.

Mascoma had strong play from several players, including senior Liberti Lacasse, who scored 21 points.

Mascoma coach Tonya Young praised the post play of junior Gabby Pierce, freshman Anna Sullivan and sophomore Leah Larocque along with the defensive work of junior Kayleigh Staplefields in shutting down Berlin’s top scorer. She also credited Emily Sieler for taking care of the ball as well as the hustle and free throws from Chloe Crate.

Mascoma (3-5) travels to Gilford on Monday.

WEST CANAAN — The Royals got off to a quick start and never looked back in an easy win.

Senior Ben Seiler had 18 points, junior Zach Thompson 11 and sophomore James Thomas seven for Mascoma. The Royals held Berlin to just eight points in the first half and led by 20 points at intermission.

The Royals (6-2) welcome undefeated Gilford on Monday.

KINGSTON, N.H. — In one of its toughest tests of the season, the Raiders pulled away from Sanborn in the second half and hit their foul shots down the stretch to win for the ninth straight time.

After Nyeoti Punni hit a layup for a 59-49 lead, Lebanon “finished with a parade to the foul line,” said coach Kieth Matte. “It was tied at the half (29-29), and we took the lead in the third quarter (49-42) and pulled away. They are good team (12-2). This was one of our better games.”

Senior Braeden Falzarano poured in 28 points and senior Jackson Stone had 20 to lead Lebanon. Ten of the Raiders’ 17 points in the fourth quarter were foul shots.

Lebanon (9-1) is at Souhegan on Monday.

HANOVER — Hanover fell to 2-11 and is home to Manchester West on Monday.

WHITE RIVER JUNCTION — The winless Green Knights gave Hartford all it could handle in a close game that was settled with an open-net goal with less than a second to play.

“That record is deceiving,” said Hartford coach Kylie Young about Rice. “They have had a lot of one-goal losses.”

Rice took the lead on a goal in the first and held it until Hartford senior Brianna Roberts scored at the 14:19 mark in the second period, assisted by junior Madelyn Durkee and junior Nedra Dwinell. Hartford would build a 3-1 lead on quick second-period goals at 7:40 by Dwinell, assisted by senior Grace Bazin, and 8:06 by senior Sophie Trombley, set up by freshmen Maddie Barwood and Emma Bazin.

Rice got one back to end the second at 3-2 and tied it at 12:30 in the third period. Nora Knudsen put Hartford ahead, 4-3, on a power play at the 10:30 mark before the open-net goal as time ran out. Nella Bowen, an eighth grader, made 10 saves in net for Hartford.

Hartford (7-3-0) plays at Brattleboro on Monday.

STOWE, Vt. — Junior Isabel Konijnenberg scored four times in a dominating win for the VPA Division II-leading Wasps.

Konijnenberg added an assist for a five-point game. Kassidy Haley, Gracelyn Laperle, Hannah Gubbins and Skylar Haley also dented the net for the Wasps. Lily Gubbins recorded a pair of assists to one each for both Haleys, Laperle and Emma Allegretti. Goalie Meridien Bremel had a 17-save shutout.

Woodstock (9-0-0) is home against Brattleboro on Wednesday.

LACONIA, N.H. — Lebanon scored a pair of goals in the first two periods and had to kill off five penalties in the third for the win.

Sophomore Jack Clary, assisted by Andrew Dannehy, got Lebanon on the board. That was followed by an unassisted goal from junior Will McGee. Laconia got one back in the first before Lebanon stretched the lead on second-period goals by senior Hunter Christian, assisted by senior Liam Oullette and McGee, and Cesar Salcedo (unassisted) in a little over a minute.

Lebanon coach Jim Damren said his team was down a man for most of the final period killing penalties, including a five-minute major.

Lebanon (7-2-0 league, 6-1-0 overall) plays at Berlin-Gorham on Saturday. The Division III-leading Mounties are the only NHIAA team to beat the Raiders this season.

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. — The Hurricanes stayed perfect (10-0-0) with a power-play goal in the second stanza to break a 1-1 tie followed by two third-period tallies.

Sophomore Ezra Mock scored the first goal in period one, with assists from senior Aidan Boonyaharn and sophomore Lochlan Park. After the Tigers tied it early in the second on the man-up, Hartford returned the favor on its own power play five minutes later on a goal by Park, assisted by juniors Blaine Gour and James McReynolds.

Junior Ozzie DeFelice gave Hartford a two-goal cushion with four minutes to play in the game with an assist from Gour. Boonyaharn closed out the scoring with an assist from junior Joseph Barwood. Sophomore Davey Bradley made 10 saves for Hartford.

The Hurricanes are home to Burlington on Wednesday.

WEST LEBANON — Hanover came up against a strong Falcon goaltender, who stopped 33 of 35 shots.

“We fell behind early and were chasing the game right out of the gate,” said Hanover coach Dick Dodds. “Bow is not the type of team you want to be playing catch-up against. They have a terrific goalie. He was the best player on the ice.”

Hanover got goals from seniors Casey Graham and John Hill, with assists from seniors Jack Stadheim, Curtis Rice and Alex Rockmore.

Hanover (4-4) visits Bow for a rematch on Wednesday.

Bowling Stevens wins four-team match

CLAREMONT — The Cardinals, seeded first after qualifying, defeated Hollis-Brookline, 2-1, in the Baker semifinals and swept Raymond, 2-0, in the finals at Maple Lanes.

In individual play, seniors R.J. Raymond bowled a 205 and 212, Cameron Bard contributed a 212 and Hayden Grenier rolled a 214.

Wrestling Newport wrestles at Nashua North

NASHUA, N.H. — Newport juniors Anson Ritondo and Eric Wilkinson won their matches with pins at Saturday’s match.

Ritondo, wrestling at 132 pounds, pinned his opponent in 52 seconds. Wilkinson (138) had a tougher route to victory, rallying from a 7-3 deficit before earning a second-period pin.

BOW, N.H. — The Raiders defeated John Stark, 36-15, and Bow, 36-24, but lost to Merrimack, 50-12, in a four-school tournament at Bow High.

In the victory over John Stark, Lebanon junior Sawyer Beaulieu (120 pounds) won by pin and junior Drew Sanchez (145) also won. Against Bow, sophomore Ben Nelson (170) and senior Dustin Jarvis (182) pinned their opponents, and sophmore Abigail Stone (132) and senior Sebastian Yates (195) also took their matches.

Jarvis and Nelson also had wins against Merrimack. Both were 2-1 on the day, and Beaulieu was 1-1 for the Raiders.