The Vermont team that participated in this year’s Twin State Rotary Classic was bigger than its counterpart from New Hampshire, and it proved to be better than New Hampshire as well.
An 18-point performance from Rutland’s Mark Comstock propelled Vermont to a 96-85 triumph over New Hampshire at the University of Vermont’s Patrick Gymnasium last Saturday.
Vermont led 42-38 after one quarter, 54-47 at halftime and opened up a 20-point lead with less than two minutes to play.
Comstock was one of four Vermont players to score in double figures. Clancy Rugg and Shane Norris, both of whom played for Burlington, each finished with 14, and Thetford’s Jason Gray tossed in 12.
New Hampshire’s Jason Chevrefils led all scorers with 23. Chevrefils played for Manchester Memorial.
The Vermont victory left New Hampshire with an 18-11 edge in the series.
Pembroke Academy’s Alex Hall was the dominant player in the girls game. Hall, a point guard who will play for the University of Hartford, scored 23 points to help New Hampshire earn a split with a 64-55 victory.
Hall, who spent two seasons at Manchester’s Trinity High School before she transferred to Pembroke Academy, was named Miss New Hampshire Basketball following her senior season. Vermont missed 46 of its 65 shots from the field.
South Burlington’s Kelsey Beynnon led Vermont with 12 points. Vermont received 10 points from Spaulding’s Marissa Velez, seven from Bellows Free Academy’s Tiffany Johnson and seven from Twin Valley’s Tarryn Bolognani.
Vermont trails in the girls series, 17-12.
Soccer: Lions Cup rosters finalized
The annual Lions Twin State Soccer Cup matches between Vermont and New Hampshire will be played Saturday at Franklin Pierce University in Rindge, N.H. The girls game is scheduled to start at noon, and the boys game will follow.
Black River’s Pat Pullinen will coach the Vermont girls, and Stowe’s Jamie Birmingham will serve as the Vermont boys coach.
The Vermont rosters:
Girls: Courtney Rohrig (Black River), Megan Blongy (Rutland), Ashley Boucher (Rutland) Destiny Cucullo (Black River), Morgan Solomon (Green Mountain Valley), Ricci Celia (Essex), Asia Sienko (Champlain Valley), Midori Eckenstein (South Burlington), Haleigh Gill (South Burlington), Caitlin Nedde (Colchester), Kristen Bombardier (Colchester), Julia Hayer (Harwood), Jull Delipriscoli (Montpelier), Jessica White (BFA-Fairfax), Jess Steketee (Rivendell), Lucia Sforza (PeoplesAcademy), Natalie LeClair (Essex), Michelle Finan (Mount Mansfield), Jessica Sperling (Milton), Michelle Nichols (Milton), Tobi Britton (Stowe) and Monica Rogers (Burlington).
Boys: Austin Bicskei (Mill River), Ethan Bicskei (Mill River), Trevor Kotrady (Mill River), Anthony Dana (Springfield), Jacob Roswell (Hartford), Hunter Cox (Hartford), John Durgin (Black River), Will Martin (Northfield), Adam Hart (Green Mountain Valley), Serge Zola (Winooski), Adam Batista (North Country), Sean Pinard (North Country), Ross Gruber (Middlebury), Vincent Tardella (Colchester), Jon Michael White (Randolph), Thomas Gingras (Milton), David Ramada (Essex), Seth Rebeor (BFA-Fairfax), Matthew Peter Sulva (Champlain Valley), Kevin Chu (Burlington), Rob Cole (South Burlington), Ryan Norton (South Burlington) and Ethan Martin (South Burlington).
Hockey: MacKinnon leaves CVU
Will MacKinnon has resigned from his coaching position with the Champlain Valley Union boys hockey program, citing an increased workload in his job as a manager with TD Banknorth.
MacKinnon helped guide CVU to the Division I state championship last February. He spent four years with the CVU program, the last two as a co-coach with Doug Hopper. MacKinnon also won two state championships while he was the head coach at BFA-St. Albans.
