Sports

Basketball, yes
With five Division I state championships behind them, the CVU women’s basketball team looks forward to keeping the trend alive. They helped their cause with a quarterfinal win over the Bobwhites of BFA-St. Albans last Friday. Catherine Gilwee and Shannon Loiseau led the offense. After being tied at halftime at 16 apiece, the Redhawks pulled away in the second half, outscoring BFA by 10 points in the third quarter and going on to win by 9, 46-37, with Gilwee hitting for the victory margin in the final quarter.

CVU had gained the quarterfinal game by beating 15th ranked Burr and Burton Academy, 55-33. Charlotte’s Maryn Askew contributed nine points offensively, coupled with a strong defensive effort that produced five steals. CVU will face third-ranked North Country in the Final-Four match up. The Lady Falcons beat Brattleboro to move on.

Essex and Colchester were the losers to CVU men hoopsters. In the Essex contest, Charlotte’s Cole Otley led the way with 18 points, three-quarters of them in the first half. Graham Walker was close behind Otley with a triple-double that included 16 points, 12 rebounds and 13 assists. The Redhawk’s season record moved ahead to 13 wins with a victory over Colchester, 48-34, and again showed the value of collective scoring, particularly produced by co-captains Paul Keen (12 points) and Will Buroughs (8 points). The Hawks began in a flurry in the first half, claiming a 16-0 run. They maintained the pressure in the second half, outscoring the Lakers 9-0. As with their women counterparts, the CVU men play a strong team game, spreading scoring among many and coupling offense with a strong team defense.

Hockey, no
Redhawk men’s hockey was ranked seventh in Vermont’s top division and faced second- ranked Essex in a quarterfinal game on the Hornet’s ice last Saturday. Coached by Chris Line, an Essex alum and former CSB youth hockey skater who went on to play college hockey at Clarkson, Essex was expected to overcome CVU, if not easily, at least with a limited resistance. That resistance was stronger than expected as the Redhawks played a solid game at both ends of the ice, forcing two overtime periods before losing 3-2. Having been upset on their home ice last year, the Hornets grew fearful of similar happenings until Chris Blanco scored two minutes and 34 seconds into the second OT. Up until then, CVU goalie from Charlotte, Reed Dousevicz, had blocked 59 shots in an enormous defensive effort. Another Charlotter, co-captain and senior Jennings Lobel, set up the opening goal with just over two minutes left in the first period. After fighting off two defenders behind the Hornet net, Lobel sent a pass to Jake Schaefer who hit the net from between the circles. CVU ended the season with 9 wins and 12 losses.

The MMU/CVU women Cougar Hawks ended their hockey season losing to top-ranked Essex 3-0 in a state quarterfinal game. The Hornets out shot MMU/CVU 36 to 13, with Cougar/Hawk goalie Joanna Wright stopping 33 of them.

Nordic skiers serve up freestyle and classical runs
CVU’s Nordic ski teams came in near the top of both men’s and women’s divisions of the classical and freestyle races. Mount Mansfield Union swept all four classes in the two types of runs. The freestyle races were Day One at Craftsbury Outdoor Center, with CVU women finishing behind MMU and Brattleboro. The men were an extra place back with Mount Anthony in third behind MMU and Brattleboro. Emma Strack was among the top-ten women, and the 4×2.5K relay team finished fourth. Jared Leonard was among the first 10 finishers for men, and the men’s 4×2.5K relayers also ran fourth. Day Two moved the classical races to Ripton at the Rikert Nordic Center where both men and women finished fourth behind MMU and three other schools. Emma Strack moved up to second place, only a minute behind the winner. Jared Leonard skied in fourth place among individuals, while both relay teams earned fourth-place finishes.

Charlotte contributed many skiers to both men’s and women’s teams. On the men’s side, Charlotters Gus Lunde Jack Boynton, Matt and Andrew Silverman and Aaron McNally skied both freestyle and classical, with Skyler Heininger added for classic runs and Conor Falk added to the freestyle roster. Sadie Holmes and Lily Porth contributed to the women’s teams.

CVU wrestlers finish sixth out of 19 teams
Small, medium and large — Riley Brown at 113 pounds, Matt Trifaro at 138 pounds and Jared Forsythe at 182 pounds — were the top CVU finishers at the State Wrestling Championships held at Otter Valley High School. The team ended in sixth place among the 19 schools that sent competitors. Mount Anthony and Essex were the top two teams.