WELLS RIVER- The Blue Mountain Bucks were rather inhospitable hosts to the visiting Eagles of Mid-Vermont Christian.  With a trip to the Barre Aud on the line, the Bucks executed their game plan and gave the home crowd at the Dr. Harry M. Rowe Gymnasium something to cheer about with a 54-30 win.  Offensively, it was the underclassmen who led the way.  Freshman Kyra Nelson and Sophomore Jordan Alley each had 17 points on the night. Kolby Nelson threw in 9 points and Lauren Joy added 5 more.  Defensively the Bucks knew they needed to slow down Mid-Vermont Senior Hayley Goodwin.  While Goodwin was able to drop 22 points of her team’s 30, she had to do it while playing with four fouls for much of the game.  The Bucks went right at Goodwin and got four fouls on her in the first quarter.  Mid Vermont gambled and left Goodwin in and she played smart, staying in the game until finally picking up her 5th foul in the fourth quarter.  The Bucks more balanced approach left too many offensive weapons for Mid-Vermont to deal with.

The Bucks played with an intensity befitting a quarter-final game.  BMU’s trademark full-court pressure defense created turnovers as Mid-Vermont was forced into long passes that were picked off or tipped by Buck defenders. Even when the Eagles were able to break the press, they were still out of sync with their offensive set as players not usually handling the ball were forced to bring it into the forecourt. Senior Kolby Nelson appeared to be everywhere with a hand in the passing lane and a tipped ball on too many Eagle possessions to count. Likewise, when the Bucks were in a half-court defensive stance, it was difficult for the Eagles to find a path to the basket.  The one negative for the Bucks came at the free-throw line.  Blue Mountain went an uncharacteristically low 9 for 24 from the charity stripe which kept Mid-Vermont within striking distance for most of the game.

BMU Freshman Kyra Nelson stepped up big with 17 points but also with an impressive defensive effort.  When asked about the game, Nelson said, “I walked into it knowing it’d be a hard game. We needed to be in control, we needed to hustle and we needed to play hard defense. I feel we accomplished that and came out with a win.”

The Eagles season ends with a record of 13 and 9.  The Bucks move on to face West Rutland in the semi-finals at the Barre Auditorium on Wednesday, March 2nd.  Tickets for that game can be purchased at https://gofan.co/app/school/VPA

Blue Mountain 14-27-34-54

L. Joy 1 (1) 0-0 5,  Ky Nelson 6 (1) 2-5 17,  E. Dennis o (1) 0-0 3,  J. Alley 8 (0) 1-7 17.  K. Blood 0 (0) 2-2 2,  K. Tillotson 0 (0) 1-3 1,  Ko. Nelson 3 (0) 3-7 9

Mid Vermont Christian 11-14-19-30

S. Whitcomb 1 (0) 0-0 2,  A. Roberts 0 (0) 1-2 1,  H. Goodwin 4 (2) 8-9 22, S. Bascon 2 (0) 1-2 5

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