Richford Rockets v. Leland and Gray Rebels (Girls) 3/6/13

TOWNSHEND - The Leland and Gray Rebels lost the first round of the 2013 Vermont girls Division III basketball playoffs to the Richford Rockets on Wednesday, March 6.  The lead teetered throughout the game with a fluctuation of under four points, but the Rockets blasted out of Townshend with the W towards Hazen where they will play the first seeded Wildcats in the quarterfinal round. 

The Rebel girls, who have failed to make it past the playdown round since 2001, were en route to making history with a win against the Rockets.  After a slow, 7-4 trail by the first quarter, the Rebels rallied in the second to get the lead back.  The offense was led by senior captain Alex Morrow who scored eight of the Rebels' ten points that quarter.  By halftime, the Rebels led 14-13.

By the third quarter, things started to fall apart noticeably.  Although the Rockets could not produce the points they needed to run away with the game, they did put up great numbers on defense by forcing Rebel turnovers.  Senior captain Ashley Goddard was the only one to put up any points for the Rebels that quarter.  The Rockets came back to tie it 19-19.

The last and final quarter seemed to take the longest.  Points were scarce but the tension and closeness was still prevalent.  Two quick baskets by senior captain Chelby Nystrom and sophomore Haley Buffum gave the Rebels the early 23-19 lead but the Rockets rallied right back.  Junior Johanna Sherrer hit a three followed by a basket by sophomore Hannah Gleason and a foul shot by sophomore Gabby Coons to give the Rockets with a 25-23 lead with under two minutes to go.  After Buffum tied the game up with a jumper at 25, Coons made a basket within the final minute of the game.

With just fifteen seconds to go, the Rebels had one more opportunity to tie the game.  The ball was passed in and the Rebels took their time setting up on offense.  It was clear that this would be the final play of the game.  The ball was successfully passed around to Buffum, the hero of the senior night win against Bellows Falls.  The difficult jumper from about fifteen feet bounced over the rim and into the hospitable arms of the Rockets who held on dearly through the final buzzer to get the 27-25 win. 

The player of the game was sophomore Coons who led the team with eleven points and had the final go-ahead shot for the Rockets.  For the Rebels, the player of the game was Morrow who led the team in scoring with ten points.  Alex and senior captain Ashley Goddard acquired 76% of the teams total points.

Morrow examined the game, "It just wasn't our night. Our shooting was off . . . and I do give them credit for coming such a long way and how they handled the pressure at the end. They kept their composure when we didn't and I think that's why they held on in the end."  On her final season of Leland and Gray basketball, Morrow said, "This was it.  Knowing that it was my last game gave me extra motivation to give our fans something to cheer about and give ourselves something to be proud of - a win in the playoffs, a dream I have had for four years on varsity. The other years you always think 'next year we'll get them!' But for me this was the year we were going to win.  The game could have gone to either team but unfortunately it didn't end in our favor.  I'm still proud of the team and of the girls. They left everything on the court and never gave up."

BFA Fairfax Bullets v. Leland and Gray Rebels (Boys) 3/2/13

TOWNSHEND - After beating Peoples Academy in a nail-biting playdown contest, the Leland and Gray Rebels were shut down by the sixth seeded BFA Fairfax Bullets.  Although the Rebels showed a promising start in the game, the Bullets recovered from the playoff jitters to dominant the remainder of the game.

Last Home Game of Season

The fans began cheering as soon as the game commenced, giving the Rebels the momentum they needed to kick things off.  Senior captains Billy Nupp and Michael Bergeron accounted for six points each while the Rebels defense kept stealing the ball.  The adrenaline-packed first quarter gave the Rebels the early lead, 14-10.

Rebeor

The party ended shortly as the Bullets came back the next quarter with their own rally, shaking off the initial nerves.  Senior Jared Demar and sophomore Luke Rebeor led the eighteen point run by shooting a combined fourteen points.  The Bullets held the Rebels at just six points the entire quarter, three coming from an "and one" play by senior Andy Brown and three from senior Riley Kenney at the buzzer.  The Bullets led 28-20 heading into overtime.

Barnum with block

The Rebels were soon just distant headlights in the Bullets' rearview mirror.  They could not penetrate down low which forced them to take a lot of jumpers around the perimeter.  Although the Rebels had ten steals with their successful full-court defense setup, they could not execute their breaks which led to multiple missed shots and a total twenty-nine turnovers. 

Coach Nystrom

In the final quarter, Bullets leading 41-26, it was sink or swim for the Rebels.  Their defense continued to force Bullet turnovers and give themselves opportunities to score, but the shots just simply couldn't find their way in.  As senior Zach Wilkins fouled out within the last few minutes of the game, the crowd gave him a standing ovation for his heroics in the preceding game that credited the Rebels' quarterfinal berth.

As time was wearing thin, coach Andy Nystrom sat back all of his starters and put in his second and third strings players for the taste of varsity basketball playoffs.  The Bullets continued to play hard the whole way through, no stalling the clock and minimal substitutions.  They ended up winning 58-45.

Kenney guarding Wehner

Players of the game were Rebeor and senior Kris Wehner.  Rebeor hit two threes and had a total of fourteen points on the night.  Wehner led the team in scoring with eighteen total points.  He also hit three three pointers and went 9-11 at the foul line.  For the Rebels, senior captain Drew Barnum led the team with twelve points, the majority coming in the fourth quarter.  Barnum hit two threes, had three steals, three blocks and nine total rebounds.

Wehner with foul shot

After the game, Wehner said about the game, "All the seniors on the team have played together since grade school and this was our second playoff win in our time together.  The key to our success this year comes from our ability to play with one another as a team and to not be afraid of driving the ball.  [The Rebels] caught us off our guard there in the beginning but we were able to catch on and defend them better the rest of the game."  On the final minutes of the game, Wehner commented, "We didn't run the clock because that's not what we were told to do.  We ran what we've been running the entire game because that's what we were most comfortable with and it had been working so far."

Wilkins spoke on the game as well, "Going into the game, we knew it was going to be tough.  After the first quarter, I was hopeful that we'd play the rest of the game like that.  Everyone was pretty disappointed after the second and third quarter when they kept extending their lead.  I think what we lacked tonight was team chemistry - we didn't work well together.  After the game, I was really disappointed with the loss but with the experience of losing in soccer, I didn't take it as hard as some others did."

On the ovation from the crowd, Wilkins responded, "I love our fans and I am happy they're always supporting us no matter what. I felt I'd finally met the hero status I have always looked up to from when I was in middle school. Even though I don't normally get a lot of points, I do get a lot of compliments about the intensity I always bring."

Final score

The Bullets will move on to the semifinal round in Barre where they will play second seed Thetford Academy.