Future looking bright for CVU boys basketball

The Champlain Valley Union Redhawks boys basketball team continues to dispatch opponents, and the outlook is bright with a handful of games remaining and postseason just around the corner.

Coach Michael Osborne said he is enjoying this year’s team as much as any he has ever coached.

“We are deep and balanced. All five starters average between 10 and 8 points per game,” he said.

And the Redhawks have been excelling on defense as well. CVU is holding its opponents to an average of 41 points. Only one team has reached 50 points against the Redhawks and that was early in the season (St. Johnsbury on Dec. 30 — CVU 55, St. Johnsbury 50).

CVU 66, BFA-St. Albans 45
The Redhawks had jumped out to a 20-6 lead when the first period ended at Bellows Falls Academy this Monday (Feb. 6), led by three treys from Kyle Eaton.

Eaton’s 14 points led all scorers. He was hot from long distance with a total of four 3-pointers for the game.

The Bobwhites made a contest of it in the second quarter, so the Redhawks only took a 30-21 lead into halftime.

Led by senior Logan Vaughan, who knocked down seven points and senior Sam Sweeney, who drained a pair of three-pointers, CVU was able to build a 53-29 lead to take into the fourth.

The win increased CVU’s record to 14-1 and dropped BFA-St. Albans to 7-6.

The Redhawk’s next game is at 7 p.m. this Friday, Feb. 10, at Essex High. The junior varsity contest starts at 5:30 p.m.

CVU 70, St. Johnsbury 48
Although they came close on Monday, Jan. 30 at St. Johnsbury, ultimately the Hilltoppers were not able to top the 50-point peak they had scaled against CVU exactly a month earlier.

The first half was a nail-biter with the Redhawks managing to take a slight 29-28 lead into halftime.

However, they erupted in the third quarter with a 15-2 run, and the Redhawks took a 51-38 lead into the fourth. The final quarter began with a 20-3 CVU scoring run.

CVU finished with four players in double figures. Eaton was the high scorer with 18, while senior Alex Provost notched 15. Junior Tucker Tharpe tallied 14. Tharpe may have made the difference in the game with 13 of his points coming in the second half.

CVU 51, Mount Mansfield 31
The Redhawks’ defense held the visiting Cougars to 11 points in the first half to take a 30-11 lead into halftime on Jan. 27.

CVU held visiting Mount Mansfield to 11 first-half points en route to victory.

In the end it was a relatively easy win for CVU, with Sam Sweeney leading the scoring with 12 points.

CVU 49, South Burlington 43
The outcome of a Jan. 24 tilt at South Burlington was undecided until the closing minutes before CVU finally prevailed.

South Burlington was ahead 24-22 at halftime.

Although the Redhawks outscored the Wolves 16-7 in the third quarter to take a 38-31 lead into the final frame, the contest was not over.

South Burlington managed to climb back to a 43-all tie in the fourth, but CVU scored the final six points of the game to seal the win.

Logan Vaughan led the scoring for CVU with 12 points. Tharpe had 11 and Provost 9.