Lady Jackets win over Fairfax, lose to Lamoille

By ZENDA FARRELL | Milton Independent Sports Writer

Junior captain Heather Little drains a jumper during the Yellowjackets 50-38 loss to Lamoiller. Little led Milton scorers with 12 points. (Photo by Paul Lamontagne)

In a game played at Fairfax last Wednesday, the Lady Jackets increased their undefeated streak by one with a 48-19 win over Fairfax. 

Heather Little led the offensive attack, sinking three 3 pointers and Megan Mayo added 8 points. 

Courtney Pidgeon stood out with 5 points, 3 assists, 11 rebounds and 5 steals. 

“She had an awesome game, made herself a force, a huge game right there,” says Coach Lefebvre.  “Otherwise, we had balanced scoring, everyone chipped in for an all round offensive game but defense was key to this win.”

Every girl scored at least once in this game. 

On Friday night, they played Lamoille on home courts, with both teams entering the match undefeated.

Lamoille utilized zone defense strategy to secure a 50-38 win and handed the Ladies their first loss. They were successful in keeping Ashleigh Adams and Courtney Pidgeon away from the basket and scoreless.

Milton had managed a 5 point lead (17-12) early in the second period but Lamoille put up 10 unanswered points in two minutes to edge away.  A long, scoreless period for Milton in the third allowed the Lancers to widen the margin to 22-13.

“We had a few defensive breakdowns but Lamoille is a very good team, very physical,” comments Lefebvre.  “They played tough defense inside and shut down our offense.  There was a long stretch where we couldn’t hit a bucket - overall, as a team, we only went 6 for 16 three point attempts and even worse, 5 for 35 two point shots but we saw a lot of positive things from our game against them that we can build from.  In the second half, they pulled away then we had a bad third quarter, with only 5 points, all from the foul line, which allowed them to pull away even further.”

Heather Little landed triple three pointers and had a personal 12-point game. Andrea Duell added 9 points from 3 successful 3 point shots.  “These two girls made 6 of our team’s 12 three point attempts between them.  Andrea kept us in the game in the second quarter,” says Lefebvre.

Next up is a home game against Vergennes on Thursday @ 7:15 PM. 

“Vergennes is another strong team,” comments Lefebvre.  “The coaches pull rank and Vergennes and Lamoille are the top 2 teams in our division.”

Go Lady Jackets!!

Brian Phelps was the leading scorer with 22 points in Milton's 55-44 loss to Colchester on Monday night. (Photo by Paul Lamontagne)

Jackets defeat FFX

By ZENDA FARRELL | Milton Independent Sports Writer

The Yellowjackets held BFA Fairfax to 65-51 in a home game last Tuesday.  Although the win was big, bigger was the fact that Jeff Cota was in attendance to see it.  Cota who is battling bone cancer received a donation from Fairfax before the game began

“We opened the game with a 13-0 advantage and led 19-4 by the end of the first quarter,” says Coach Chris Brown.   “In the second quarter, we struggled taking care of the ball, but got a big play by Ryan Smith blocking a layup attempt by Fairfax at the half.  We led 34-22 at halftime.   Brian Phelps was able to connect on all 3 foul shots late in the third when he was fouled shooting a 3 point shot, which gave us a 50-35 lead after 3 quarters.”

“The key to this game was executing our zone offense.  After our poor display of offense against Winooski, who played zone defense most the game, we knew we would have to execute better against Fairfax as they would be playing zone most the game as well.   Our team deserves alot of credit for taking one practice session on executing our zone offense and then performing the way they did in this game.  We focused on establishing our inside game.  Stuart Bell, Brian Phelps, and Mike Phelps took advantage and combined for 41 points and 17 rebounds.  Then when the middle clogged up, our shooters were able to knock in some three’s.  Bryan Geary connected on a couple from behind the arc and Ryan smith hit one as well.  Another big part in our win was our free throw shooting.  We were 21 for 30 from the line and 10 different players went to the line.”

“As always, a key to us winning, is our defense.  Ben Bergeron, Mike Abramski, Ryan Smith, and Brian Gilbert were rotated to defend Fairfax scoring threats and were able to contain them.”

“We also got big a big boost from Rob Mahoney, who was limited to first half action only after he took a hard hit to the head and Jake Frederick who was very quick to the ball. Steve Mahoney and Joe Emery both were able to contribute some valuable minutes of solid play.  Each time they got in was when Fairfax was trying to full court pressure us to get back in the game.  They both played well against alot of pressure,” concludes Coach Brown.

Eleven players added points to this game, led by Brian Phelps with 21; Stuart Bell had 18 and Bryan Geary added 8.  Ben Bergeron, Brian Phelps and Stuart Bell each contributed 7 rebounds.

A second round with the Colchester Lakers, after an opening season victory for the Yellow Jackets, in a game played at Colchester on Monday evening, had the Lakers off to an early lead.  Ahead by 18-6 after one quarter, they put the insurance towards delivering Milton a 55-44 loss.

Brian Phelps led Milton with 22 points.

he team travels to Middlebury on Friday for a 7 PM game.

Go Yellow Jackets!!

Squirts earn double shutouts

By ZENDA FARRELL | Milton Independent Sports Writer

The Milton Squirt Warriors, coached by Mike Clark, Scott Boyson and Scott Goodwin left the St. Albans and Chazy teams scoreless last weekend.

On Saturday evening at the Collins Perley Arena, they closed out the St. Albans A team with 4 unassisted goals.  Hunter Goodwin, Ian Pelkey, Logan Belliveau and Cody Boyson scored for the Warriors and Brandon Rhoades kept the net clean.

Sunday morning, at Gutterson Fieldhouse, they shutdown the Chazy A/B team 7-0. 

Eric Swan received his first shutout patch for his efforts in the net. 

Boyson earned a hat trick beginning with a goal in the second period, assisted by Brandon Rhoades and Hunter Goodwin. 

Ian Pelkey, assisted by Rhoades and Goodwin closed the second period at 2-0. 

The third period opened with a goal by Gracey Hickey, from Brian Clark and Goodwin.  Four was scored by Belliveau from Kyle Lebeau and Boyson. 
Rhoades sent a shot from the point to the back of the net for the 5th goal and Boyson put away the last two with help from Pelkey and Goodwin.

“Overall, our defense in these two games was probably the best of the season to date,” says Coach Boyson.  “Our defensive line-up of Brandon Rhoades, Jared Amstein, Thomas Vickery and Ian Pelkey was outstanding.  They played tremendous hockey for the whole weekend!  Stellar!”

They have 3 games coming up this weekend – a home game against CSB on Friday evening and on Saturday, they take on Essex A/B and Chazy.

Go Warriors!!

Hocky Update

The Yellow Jackets varsity hockey team record drops to 1-5 after a 6-3 loss to U-32 in a game played at Montpelier last Wednesday.

Milton sent a total of 26 shots towards the (2-1-1) Raiders net. Three of those shots found their way to the back. A pair of goals by Eric Daunais and a single by Corey Hurley accounted for Yellow Jacket scoring.

Ryan Holmes made an impressive 38 saves in the loss.

Dory McClaughlin appears to fly through the air on the uneven parallel bars. She made it safely to the mat. (Photo by Paul Lamontagne)

Larose third at Holiday Invitational

By ZENDA FARRELL | Milton Independent Sports Writer

Stephanie Larose placed third all-around in South Burlington's Rebel Holiday Invitational. (Photo by Paul Lamontagne)

The varsity gymnastics team competed against some of Vermont’s best when they participated in the Rebel Holiday Invitational on Saturday at South Burlington High School.

This event is different from the typical meet because the gymnasts compete only against girls in the same grade as they are and it is not team against team. 

Girls from South Burlington, Milton, Essex, Harwood, U-32, St. Johnsbury and Randolf vied for top marks on vault, bars, beam and floor.

Individual results for Milton:

Freshman Danielle Archambault earned a first place on floor and 3rd on beam. 

Freshman Marie Castine took 5th place for her floor routine.

Senior Steph Larose was 2nd on beam, 3rd on bars, 3rd on floor and 4th on vault for an all around 3rd place.

Senior Melissa Lauziere took 5th place on vault and floor and 6th place on bars.

Senior Molly Dowling was 6th on floor.

“The girls did do well overall,” says Coach Mary Thelan.  “This was a fun meet and the girls all did a dance contest at the end.  We didn’t place in it this year but there were a lot of cute routines that the girls put together themselves with no coaching.”

Milton hosts its first home meet of the season, against Randolph, on Wednesday, Dec. 20 at 6:30 p.m. in the Herrick Ave. gymnasium.

Go Lady Jackets!!

Wrestling

Milton high school wrestling is ready to hit the mats, coming off a very successful 2005-2006 season which saw several of our wrestlers placing in the top of their divisions. These fine young men are back and looking to improve upon their records from last year.  Heading the varsity team are seniors Scott Little and Bobby Circe.  Both wrestlers placed 5th in their weight classes at last year states.  These two bring a lot of leadership and enthusiasm to the team.  We expect both of these fine young men to rule their weight divisions this year and to earn New England bids.

Dustin Circe and Josh Bergeron both juniors, are the balance of the Varsity team returning from last season.  Dustin and Josh shared time on both the Varsity and JV wrestling teams and finished their Junior Varsity careers with State championships in their weight divisions.  On the varsity level Dustin captured 6th place in his weight class at last year’s states and brings to the team a strong work ethic and an impressive teaching ability.  Dustin will be an opposing force in his weight division this year, and if the dedication he has shown in the past is any clue he will be a definite contender for the state title.  Many of our teams’ younger wrestlers owe their success to Dustin’s mentoring. Josh was eliminated early in last year’s states, but he returns in top form, maintaining his weight from a year ago and ready to challenge his weight division.  He has a tough road ahead as he competes in one of the toughest weight divisions in the state but Josh has always met his challenges head on, and we expect nothing less this year.

This year, we have two fine additions to the varsity line-up; Sam Weaver and David Mongeon.  Both wrestlers are coming up from very successful Junior High careers.  David and Sam have been involved in wrestling for at least four years and their talent levels and small stature will vault them into ranks of the varsity program from day one.  David finished 2nd and Sam placed 4th each in their weight classes at the JH high states last year. 

This year the wrestling program would like to welcome Ted Miller, a senior and a very talented individual.  We have seen him grace the billboards of the Milton Drama productions and he just completed a very successful football season. He has a lot of enthusiasm and is not afraid of hard work.  This combination will make Ted a great wrestler and a fine addition to the team.

The Junior High program rosters its strongest team ever.  Under the watchful eye of returning coach Phil Bidwell, the team is destined for a great year.  Last year this team placed first at the Enosburg invitational to capture its first team title and is definitely looking to repeat this year. 

Returning as team leader is Tanner Palermo. Tanner is in the 8th grade and brings a wealth of talent and teaching ability to the team.  A second place at last years states will only serve to fuel his intensity and desire to capture first this year. 

Brandon Brill is also an 8th grader and has been involved with wrestling since he could walk.  Brandon is extremely talented, a hard worker and brings a great sense of humor to the team.  Brandon missed last year’s states but we hope this year will be his break-out year.

Also returning from a great first season is Ethan Page.  Ethan’s hard work and dedication earned him a 3rd place finish at last year’s states and this year is an open book for him.

Dylan Cook returns from a one-year hiatus. This young man just oozes energy. 

submitted by Tim Palermo

Sidney Shappy (13) on the face off against LAHA with
Aidan Flynn in the foreground. (photo by Frank Flynn)

Mites in fine midseason form

Who would have thought that one week before Christmas Eve that the lawns in Milton would still be green, and that Mites supporters would receive an early present from our improving young hockey team?  But such was the case over the weekend as our Warriors played with heart and passion against squads from New York and Morrisville.

It was a double header Sunday starting with Chazy Orange at Gutterson arena. Chazy came to town wanting to reconcile last weeks tie on their home ice, and showed some new speed in their line up. But Milton came to play this Sunday morning. Liam Fersing strapped on the pads in net, and had his best game of the year. The first two periods were wide open, with big scoring chances coming from both teams. Eric Roy dominated as he opened both periods with breakaways in the 1st fifteen seconds, but Chazy’s goalie was unphased. Andrew McQuinn netted Milton 1st goal, with assists from Sidney Shappy, and Aidan Flynn, but Chazy answered quickly keeping the score 1-1. Brendan Green left fans gasping as he put a move on Chazy’s tough net minder, and narrowly missed the open net he had created. The second period was more of the same with Milton out shooting Chazy twelve to seven, but falling two more goals behind before the Zamboni cleaned the ice.

Post game interviews uncovered that during this break between second and third, coaches reinforced the importance of applying pressure to Chazy’s skaters wherever they are on the ice. Head coach Mark McQuinn stated, “We told them to attack no matter where they were. It’s OK if they get around you when we are pressing them, but just don’t stand still.”  It was good advice that paid off in the third as pucks began to bounce Milton’s way. Notable was our young bulldog Logan Lusignan who played one of his best games of the season demonstrating mobility on defense and offense, as he stole a puck and charged it into the Chazy crease. The Warriors fought back as Eric Roy finally found the back of the net, scoring twice with assists coming from Creed Burton, Liam Flynn, Aidan Flynn and Cole Gaudette. A 3-3 tie was somehow appropriate, because these two teams are as evenly matched as any in this league. Game stars went to the entire squad.

Game two was played that afternoon in Morrisville against LAHA. Milton was short a few players, but the two offensive and two defensive lines clicked, without showing fatigue. Further proof of our teams continued growth, Milton outclassed Morrisville Lamoille even though they were noticeably smaller. With Roy back in goal the game was controlled by the Warriors from the outset, and continued for three strong periods. Milton won the game handily 7-0. Brendan Green increased his season tally with four goals, and Aidan Flynn join the scorers club with his first goal and a hat trick before it was over. Other close calls were from Sydney Shappy who had two breakaways and Creed Burton who scored but had his goal taken away by the referees. The coaches awarded offensive stars to Green and Flynn, and defensive stars to Roy and McQuinn. AN ENTERTAINING WEEKEND FOR ALL!                 

submitted by Peter Hanna