Tonight marks the first night of playoff basketball at the Barre Auditorium - the first night of my favorite two weeks of the year.
Lucky for us, and by us I mean me, two of our local teams are playing there tonight, one in each game. The No. 1 Twinfield Trojan boys will face No. 4 Rochester in the Division IV semifinal at 6:30 p.m., followed by No. 5 Harwood and No. 1 Vergennes in the Division II semifinal.
In prepping for the first game, it blew my mind that Twinfield and Rochester did not face each other in the regular season. Two of the division's most dominant teams, and they weren't put to the test against each other until now.
Twinfield comes in at 20-2, Rochester at 18-4. Both of Twinfield's losses were to D-III PA and Rivendell, while Rochester lost twice to WBCS, and once each to Williamstown and Rivendell. Both teams are on seven-game win streaks, though two of those wins for Twinfield have already come at the Aud - they beat Williamstown on successive Saturdays to close the regular season.
Rochester is making its first trip to Barre since 1998, and should they advance, it would be the Rockets' first final since that same year. Both have relatively equal semifinal records: Twinfield is 12-8 all-time in semifinal games while Rochester is 13-9. Twinfield is aiming for its ninth championship - and second in a row - while Rochester is looking for No. 6.
Both have at least one big gun: Twinfield's had a nice balance of power among reigning TA Player of the Year Chad Copeland and post players David Codling and Brandon Gibbs, while Rochester's been a bit of a one-man show with sophomore Pavin Parrish. Parrish dropped 48 in a playoff game last week, including his 1,000th point. I repeat: he's a sophomore. He plays AAU for Lone Wolf, and is a friend of Copeland's.
The winner faces the winner of the Danville and Arlington/WBCS semifinal in Saturday's final at noon.
In the late game tonight, Harwood will look to advance to its first final since 1988 when the Highlanders beat Lamoille 73-71, and I was not quite four years old. The Highlanders lost three of their last six regular season games but are on a four-game win streak now. The Commodores also stumbled at the end of the regular season, but are on a modest three-game streak now. They last won the title in 2001, also vs Lamoille.
Vergennes beat Harwood in Vergennes on Dec. 22, 2011, 52-48, in the only regular-season meeting between the two schools. Harwood is 15-7 while Vergennes is 20-2. Harwood is 2-5 in semifinal appearances (but an unbeaten 2-0 in the finals) and Vergennes is 6-9 (3-3 in the finals).
Will Ewald and Logan Liberty have done big things for the Highlanders, with Ewald dropping 30 in a recent game, and Liberty routinely scoring in double figures. I honestly don't know what Vergennes has to offer, but clearly it's something awesome if they've nabbed the No. 1 seed in a solid division.
The winner will face the winner of Wednesday's semifinal between Burr and Burton and MSJ in Saturday's final at 3:45 p.m.
-Anna Grearson
He plays AAU for Lone Wolf, and is a friend of Copeland's.
Posted by: bloons td 5 | 03/31/2013 at 05:41 AM