CVU basketball highlights from February 25 and 26
Redhawks Girl’s Overpower Rice
CVU continued their dominance over opponents in a 57 – 31 victory over the Green Knights, on Thursday, February 25. At wh
at seems like a regularity, Catherine Gilwee started out another game with a 3 point field goal on her team’s first offensive procession. This was followed by a pretty reverse layup by Catherine, a 3 point play the old fashion way, by Josie Pecor, another hoop from downtown by Jade Leavitt, and a steal with a layup by Catherine, to end the first period, contributed to giving the Redhaks a 18 – 9 advantage after the first eight minutes of play.
Madeleine Mfochive three pointer opened the second frame, and a new player to enter into the game, Allison Bates, made her two free throws for 5 quick points. Maddie Reagan hit a three, from a excellent pass from Allison, a patented inbounds play from underneath the basket, gave Elise Berger an opportunity to finish, AND the blowout was on. The first half concluded with the score, Rice 14 Gilwee 14, add on her teammates contribution and it puts the score up to 31 -14.
The strength of CVU’s defense played a major factor in the third period. The Redhawks didn’t allow a Green Knight a field goal until there was 18 seconds left to go. Addi Hunter and Madeleine were particularly tough in the paint for CVU, working hard defending and controlling the boards. The quarter ended with the Redhawks leading 48 – 16.
Give a lot of credit to the Rice squad, they didn’t observe the scoreboard, refused to give up, and seemed to work harder as the game went on. Kudos also to the mainstays on the CVU team, as they cheer loudly for whoever is representing them on the Dave Bremner Gym floor. The final score was 57 – 31. Catherine again lead her team with 18 points, but also contributing to the balanced offensive attack were Shelby’s 9, Chloe Snipes’ 7, and Maddie’s 8. Coach Ute afterwards said, “everybody’s getting better”, and that, “she’s very pleased with the defensive intensity”(of her team, who only allowed Rice 9 field goals).
Assisting Ute with instructing this year’s squad are Sy Koerner and Dick Carlson.
In the JV affair, the Redhawks team walked all over their very young Rice opponents 45 – 9, after an explosive second quarter, which saw the home team outscoring the Green Knights 23 – 2 in the frame, to open up a 31 – 2 edge at the intermission. The defense was extrodinary sharpe, allowing Rice only one field goal in the one-sided tilt. Ten of the eleven Redhawks teammates etched their numbers in the score book, with a balanced attack, led by Harper Danforth’s 10 points. This squad remains unbeaten on the season.
TEAM win for the Redhawks
Outscoring South Burlington by 14 points in the second half on February 26, led the determined Redhawks to a convincing 58 – 40 victory over the Wolves. Coach Mike Osborne’s format of using his deep bench, also proved to be a major factor in the turnout, played at SBHS.
Ethan Czarny two bombs from downtown provided the early offense for the CVU squad. A three point play the old fashion way by Oliver Pudvar, from Shelburne, helped the visiting team manage a 11- -10 lead after the opening eight minutes of play, where nine of his teammates also saw time on the hard court. The second stanza began the same as the opening one, with a trey from afar, this one provided by the Redhawks Ethan Murray. This was followed by hoops from Devon Rodgers, Logan Vaughan, and Hinesburg’s very own Alex Provost, and two free throws each from Tucker Tharpe, from Shelburne, and Czarny, which enabled CVU to take a four point lead into the half time intermission. That’s seven different players making their mark in the score book in the first half, with Devin leading the way with six points, which saw all 14 CVU players on the roster seeing some action in this hard fought match up of Metro opponents.
Charlotte’s Deng Dau scored five points in the early going, followed by another hoop from Devin to push the visitors up to their largest margin, 33 – 22 at the 5:30 mark. A 3 pointer from Oliver, and baskets by Czarny and Charlotte’s Zach Doane helped to create a 40 – 31 score after three stanzas. The ten Redhawks who played in the third quarter, held the normally high scoring Wolves to just 9 points in the 8-minute frame, AND commit ZERO fouls, in shooting down the SB offense. This aides in explaining why Mike is so successful playing multiple fresh players who can always give 100% on the defensive end.
A basket by a fired up Devin, and 2 more free throw connections after he was mugged, pushed CVU’s edge up to a game high 44 – 31 with six and a half minutes to go. The Wolves continued their full court press, which resulted in a lot of fouls, which in turn, sent the Redhawks frequently to the charity line. CVU successfully went to their “circle” formation when operating in the offensive end, to take some time off the clock, and to create some good shooting opportunities. This resulted in; going 6 for 13 from the foul line, receiving two hoops from Deng (who scored all of his 10 points in the second half), and Czarny’s sinking his third from beyond the arc, while continuing to play excellent team defense for the rest of the evening.
The stats show the Redhawks outscored SB 18 – 9 in the final stanza. Devin let the way with 14 points and 14 rebounds, followed by 10 from Deng and Oliver, and 9 from Czarny. All roster players again saw some action in the second half, with one highlight being: Kyle Eaton, just entering, and promptly dishing out a pretty assist, and later stealing the ball and passing to another teammate just off the bench, Tucker, who got fouled, but made both free throws. THIS IS WHAT HIGH SCHOOL BASKETBALL SHOULD BE ALL ABOUT.
After this sweet victory, Mike said, ” I continue to be blown away by our senior leadership, all five (Zach, Henry Bijur, Deng, Devin, and Czarny). I was happy with our poise in the fourth (SB full court press) and our collective defensive effort against an explosive offensive team. I’m thrilled we continue to get contributions from all 14 guys”.
In the JV match, it was a tight affair, with CVU taking leads of 10 -9 and 18 -16 after the first two stoppages. The Redhawks scored the first 5 points in a minute and a half to start the second half, with the third stanza ending with the CVU ahead 26 – 21. Then CVU’s Ollie Cheer sank two straight buckets to start the 4th, quickly followed by one by Colby Morehouse. When Max Destito hit one off the glass, it increases their lead to nine (34 – 25) with 3 minutes left in the contest. The Redhawks retained their margin, aided by 5 offensive rebounds in the final period, and two free throws each from Nik Blasius, and Eli Matrtin. Every player (and coach Seth) started the weekend with a smile on their face, with a 38 – 29 victory and an unblemished record.