Rutland Herald Winter Sports Guide 2018-2019
Girls Basketball Preview continued from page 10
Green Mountain
When you are coming off a 16-4
campaign and everyone returns, you
have a right to be excited. That’s the
situation in Chester.
Returning starters are Hannah
Buffum, Rachel Guerra, Maya Lewis,
Annie Lamson and Paige Karl.
The 5-foot-11 Buffum is the center
and Guerra is also in the post.
Karl will be running the show from
the point.
“She is high energy,” coach Terry
Farrell said of Karl.
Others who will see the fl oor a lot
include Alyssa Ripley, Allie Kenney,
Maddie Wilson, Reilly Merrill and post
player Lily Jones.
Farrell’s teams have made their living
with pressure defense and that won’t
change.
Karl will be a high impact player on
both ends of the court.
“I say that she is the best on-the-ball
defender, at least in the MVL,” Farrell
said.
The Chiefs open Dec. 10 at nearby
rival Black River.
A highlight of every season in Ches-
ter is the holiday tournament, which
includes boys and girls teams. This
year it is set for Dec. 18-20 and Green
Mountain’s fi rst-round opponent will
again be Twin Valley.
MSJ
Jillian Perry takes over point guard
duties for the Mounties, freeing Julia
Lee, the team’s top returning scorer, to
slide into the No. 4 spot.
Sophie Markowski is Mount St.
Joseph’s second-leading scorer and has
some size that can help in the rebound-
ing department.
The Mounties lost Lyndsey Elms,
another top scorer, to Proctor.
“We lost a lot of scoring and we
will be a lot smaller,” fi rst-year coach
Garrow said.
Lee and Markowski are the only
regular starters back from last season,
but Ella Paquin did start a few games
and logged a lot of playing time.
Perry comes over from Rutland,
where she did not play high school
basketball, but has experience from
AAU basketball.
“She is a good ball handler. She has
lots to learn but she is a good point
guard,” Garrow said.
Freshman Tiana Gallipo is also
expected to earn a starting role.
Rounding out the roster are Rory
Cararra, Miracle Wood, Selina Wilbur,
Melissa Moise, Makayla Williams, Lucy
Gallo, Meghan Cole, Sienna Diesel,
Brooke Bishop, Ellie Tracy and Emily
Pitts.
Mill River
There will be some green mixed in
with the red, white and blue at Mill
River. McKenna Ludden is the Minute-
men’s lone returning starter.
But the cupboard is not as bare as
that might make it look. The lightning
quick Emerson Pomeroy is back after a
year away from basketball and she was
an important player in the backcourt
two years ago.
And there is a windfall with Molly
Bruso moving in from North Carolina.
Coach Ken Webb said he could see
immediately that she was one of his
better players.
Jessica Roberts has been slowed by a
couple of routine operations but Webb
is looking for her to be at full strength
soon in the post.
Sadira Majorell could become a
starter.
“She is very athletic,” Webb said.
Grace Gilman and Tessa Badgeley
saw some varsity minutes last year and
will be looking for more.
Freshman Malori Carlson’s athleti-
cism was on display as a soccer goalie
this fall.
”She could help us out someplace,”
Webb said.
Kelsey Sheehe and Lexi Bowen could
give the Minutemen signifi cant minutes
off the bench.
“We’re young. We’ll make some
mistakes,” Webb said.
The Minutemen will open at home
on Saturday against U-32.
“They lost all fi ve starters but I still
think they will be pretty good,” Webb
said.
The Minutemen went 8-12 and
bowed out in the fi rst round of the
playoffs.
The key to taking that next step will
be for this new-look lineup to get used
to playing together and to cut down on
mistakes as the season progresses. Konarski and Brittney Jackson, will
swing between JV and varsity, taking
advantage of the new rule that allows
players to play fi ve quarters in a day
between the varsity and JV game.
The Otters will be hoping to take a
big step up from last year when they
went 4-16 and lost to Mount Abraham
in the fi rst playoff game. It all starts on
Dec. 10 at West Rutland.
Otter Valley Poultney
Kelly Trayah watches his players in
their other sports. Viewing their games
in soccer and fi eld hockey this fall, the
idea came to him to get out and run
more on the basketball court.
“That is really where they excel, in
setting the pace,” Trayah said. “Even
our bigs (Leah Pinkowski and Livia
Bernhardt) run well and have good
endurance.”
Bernhardt and Pinkowski should
make the Otters formidable in the post.
Bernhardt has been impressive in
the preseason in the way she has been
fi nishing around the hoop.
OV returns 10 players from last year
with Felicity Drew and Kele Park being
the only seniors.
Bernhardt is a member of a large
class of juniors that also includes Emily
Doty, Julia Eastman, Alia Edmunds,
Isabella Falco, Mary Kingsley and
Pinkowski.
Eastman will be the point guard. She
had an ankle injury near the end of
soccer season but pushed herself hard
in the fi rst basketball practices with no
problems. That has given her more
confi dence.
Edmunds is versatile and could play
any of the fi ve positions. Kingsley is a
decent shooter and the Otters will be
trying to get her the ball out on the
wing more.
Sophomore Mallory Lukfi n is a
standout defender and will guard the
opponent’s best player who is not a post
player.
Freshman Alice Keith will also see
minutes.
Sophomore Mia Politano, along
with freshmen Brielle Mackie, Lauren The Blue Devils will have a very
different look. They no longer have
6-footer Leanna Mason, who rang up
more than 1,000 points over the past
four years.
Instead, the Devils will count on their
athleticism and coach Todd Hayes
believes that is a strength of this team.
Returning starters are sophomore
Grace Hayes and Julia Bruno, the only
senior.
Hayes started as an eighth grader
and has brought the ball up the fl oor.
The plan is to move her off the ball
more this year.
She, Emily Haneley and Kassidy
Mack will share the point.
Mack is a boost after transferring
back from a year in Fair Haven.
Hannah Webster started a few games
last year as an eighth grader.
Marissa Holcomb and Kylie Constan-
tine will also be counted on.
Haneley and Hannah Welch are
eighth graders but they could play
prominent roles in the backcourt.
“Our eighth graders are ready to
play. We aren’t just throwing them in
there,” Hayes said.
Coach Hayes was encouraged by
what he saw in the recent scrimmage
against Whitehall.
”We are in better shape than we were
last year,” he said.
A girls soccer team was added this
year and that has helped with the
conditioning.
“A lot of the girls were in the weight
room all summer,” Hayes said.
”Missing Leanna will hurt. But we will
Girls continued on page 12