Rutland Herald Winter Sports Guide 2017-2018
Boys Basketball Preview
FAIR HAVEN
Cam Coloutti is in his third year as a
starter, and this time around the talented
junior will be the centerpiece of the Fair
Haven offense.
That would make two sports seasons in
a row this school year since the Slaters are
coming off a state football championship
with Coloutti as quarterback.
“Nine of my kids played football and are
still on a football high, and I’d like to carry
that over, ” says coach Bob Prenevost. “May-
be it will help the basketball program. ”
The Slaters graduated four seniors,
including 6-foot-6 Darren Brown, so Pre-
nevost envisions getting Coloutti, a guard
by trade, some looks down low.
Fair Haven should have no problem
doing this since most of the team possesses
good ballhandling skills, including Bran-
don Parker, Austin Beayon and Michael
Bizon.
“He’ll move around a lot, ” Prenevost said
of Coloutti. “He’s a pretty strong kid. He’s
going to lead us in everything ... scoring,
rebounding ... ”
Fair Haven is not blessed with great size,
but the Slaters have a capable low-post
presence in Austin Ellis. The Slaters’ other
bigs are Parker Morse and Nathan Batha-
lon, both at 6-3.
Bathalon, a three-sports athlete, will be
looking to work into good playing shape
after injuries have kept him off the court,
baseball diamond and football gridirons
the past couple of years.
Zack Murray and Drew Eddy came on
strong for the Slaters at the end of last year
and will see more minutes.
“I think we could play a lot of kids and
try to get up and down the floor a little
quicker, ” said Prenevost.
“We have a lot of interchangeable parts.
I’ll let the dogs out. We’re going to go, go,
go and then pull it back and run our (tradi-
tional) stuff. ”
Prenevost has a bounty of players around
the 6-foot mark, including his grandson,
Aubrey Ramey, and Doug Hendy.
MILL RIVER
Graduation losses notwithstanding,
the Minutemen have the potential for a
fun and exciting season.
Four key piece s return to lead a club
that will have good size and quickness.
What Mill River lacks is a clear-cut
choice at point guard, so that might be
work done by committee.
“We’re going to play great halfcourt,
and move the ball and get great shots,”
said coach Jack Rogers, whose 20-3
team went to the Division II semis last
year. “I think with this group I have
to relinquish a little control and play a
little crazier. We’ve got to make things
go a little faster. I think we have some
guys who will excel in mayhem ... like
Tyler Shelvy and Brian Eaton. We’ve
got to be physical and press aggressive.”
Shelvy has been a pleasant surprise
in early scrimmages, while Eaton is
well-known for his speed and aggres-
siveness.
Rangy forward Chad Young returns
after making a big impression on de-
fense last year, and Rogers is looking for
him to step up his offense.
In DJ Nichols the Minutemen have a
6-foot-3 forward who can cause match-
up problems with his ability to play
inside or out.
Eaton, Young and Nichols are seniors,
while junior Zach Ames might be the
team’s most skilled and versatile player.
“We need to have a big year out of
him, ” Rogers said.
Ames and Eaton appear the best choic-
es at the point, and they will have to be
certain to get the ball low to Young.
“He’s got to get his touches, ” Rogers
said.
The Minutemen gained a transfer
in Will Grabowski, who was getting
regular minutes last year at D-IV West
Rutland.
Roger is also counting on seniors
Ryan Ward and Ray Worcester to give
him good minutes off the bench.
MSJ
It’s rebuilding time at the Academy,
where title hopes have come to roost
frequently in the recent past.
Nine seniors went out the door from
last year’s D-II semifinals team and
Leo Carranza, Logan Starling and Del
Norwood are all that remain from that
18-6 club.
The encouraging aspects are a nice
chemistry and the potential for MSJ
to fill it up on offense. The downside is
that MSJ is small and could be getting
knocked around on defense.
“It’s going to be a learning experience.
This is a really strong group for the
future, but this year will be tough, ” says
coach David Randall.
“Our attitude is amazing. We may not
be as successful, but this is a great group
of kids. ”
MSJ has four freshmen suiting up for
varsity in a program with only 20 players
through the JV ranks.
Carranza was an impressive and pro-
ductive player off the bench last year, and
now he becomes a focal point as a scorer
and MSJ’s biggest player at only 6-foot-1.
He will have to play a lot of minutes to
provide some stability and leadership.
He’s going to have to tread carefully
because he’ll need to play a big defensive
role.
“We’re going to have to be creative
defending bigs, ” Randall said.
Randall is looking for Carranza and
Starling to have breakout years and says
freshmen Maddox Traynor and Brennon
Crossmon “can shoot the lights out. ”
Keaton Wright-Chapman and Logan
Montilla round out the rotation of play-
ers who should see regular minutes as
the season opens.
OTTER VALLEY
Depth, skill and smarts could help
Otter Valley overcome its lack of size.
Graduation losses were small and the
upside for the Otters is pretty big, espe-
cially when you consider nine players
are juniors.
“In past years I have not had a deep
bench. This year I have four or five guys
who can come in and give the starters
a solid break, ” said coach Greg Hughes.
“We want to play fast because we’re
small, but we’re real skilled. ”
The Otters also communicate well,
which will be key for an offense with
interchangeable parts.
“We have a lot of positions that can
produce, ” he said.
The Otters finished 11-11 with a D-II
quarterfinals loss at Mill River ending
its 2016-17 season.
The key seniors will be point guard
Josh Letourneau, who can defend, drive
and shoot, Payson Williams, a smallish
big man who can play inside and out,
and Sawyer Heath, one of last year’s role
players.
A good compliment to Williams’
versatility is Tyler Rowe, who is back
after missing most of last season with a
broken shoulder.
“I’m excited about this guy, ” Hughes
said.
Hughes cites Dylan Mackie’s im-
provement since last year and points to
Mackie and Letourneau to take the lead
in scoring.
“Other than that they pass the ball
very well, ” Hughes said. “Our offense is
going to be a well-rounded effort. ”
POULTNEY
The training wheels come off Poult-
ney basketball this winter.
The rebuilding effort produced three
wins, then six wins, in the last two sea-
sons and this year coach Bob Coloutti
wants to put some air back into the Blue
Devils’ game rather than having them
try to hold down the score.
“Last year we wanted to double our
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