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Boys Basketball Preview continued from page 7
has the physicality to play inside, where
Gannon will showcase an inside game
he’s been polishing since before hitting
a game-winning free throw against MSJ
in his varsity debut as a sophomore.
Zack Ellis, hustling Andrew Lanthier,
who does a lot of the dirty work, Owen
Loughan and Reese Hadeka will see
plenty of time among the Slaters’ top
eight.
“It’s a fun team with a neat mixture,”
said Prenevost.
GREEN MOUNTAIN
The missing piece in the Chieftains’
roundball rainbow comes courtesy of
Black River transfer Jack Boyle, who will
help give GM a strong inside presence.
“He’s here and he’s better than
expected,” Rapanotti said.
The 6-1 Boyle joins Skyler Klezos in
the frontcourt on a team that will look
to create a fast pace.
The Chieftains are versatile and have
lots of ballhandlers and shooters.
Dylan McCarthy takes over the point
guard position and that frees up former
point man James Anderson, who was
clutch for GM during the recent soccer
playoffs, to shoot more.
Ty Merrill, Sawyer Pippen, Everett
Mosher and Kagan Hance are all
returning veterans. With balance, the
shooters to break zones that vexed
them last year, and a very cohesive unit,
the Chieftains could make big waves in
a competitive D-III circle.
To up their playoff stock and accel-
erate the learning curve the Chieftains
have added D-II contenders Mill River
and Fair Haven to their schedule, and
they could potentially see MSJ in their
Tip-Off Tournament.
MILL RIVER
Athleticism is the key ingredient
at Mill River. The Minutemen might
not be the most polished of Southern
Vermont League D-II teams, but oppo-
nents can count on physical contests
played at a fast pace.
“The big thing for us is we need to
rebound,” said Mill River coach Jack
Rogers, who has some strong forwards,
but no bona-fide big man.
Third-year starter Aidan Botti is back
to run the offense and the even better
news is that Botti is just a junior.
Mill River has eight seniors, six of
whom saw significant playing time last
year, so the Minutemen look to take
that one extra step to the finals after
losing to MSJ in the 2019 semifinals.
One of them, Anthony Cange — “I
think he’s going to surprise people this
year,” said Rogers — did the team a
big offseason service when he set up a
competitive league last summer.
Other top players on this hard-
charging team will be athletic Tyler
Shelvey, Will Farwell, who came on
strong at the end of last season, Colby
Fox, and Cole Aines. Rogers looks to
Aines to be a big piece of the offense
this season.
Tyler Regula, a four-year starter in
goal in soccer, “will be an excellent guy
to do all the dirty stuff,” Rogers said.
Mill River opens the season Friday at
Green Mountain.
MSJ
Tip your hat to the MSJ program.
The little school won the D-II title last
year, graduated powerhouse players
Leo Carranza and Logan Montilla,
lost two others to transfer and still has
enough left to be numbered among
the contenders.
A lot of eyes may be trained on 6-5
sophomore Jake Williams to pick up
the scoring load, but that’s not the case.
The MSJ staff is looking down the road
for Williams to be an inside force and
for the time being will count on him to
defend the rim, rebound and assume a
support role offensively.
The man who may emerge as the
team’s soul is veteran junior Keegan
Chadburn, who can rebound and
score inside and pop out as one of
the Mounties’ 3-point shooters. MSJ
still has plenty of those, including new
starting point guard Andre Prunty.
“He’s the floor leader in everything
we do,” said coach Chris Charbonneau
of his second-year guard.
Michael Vitagliano and Chance
Passmore are among MSJ’s other sea-
soned players and Billy Carris is looking
to step up as a shooting guard.
MSJ adds freshman Peter Woods,
picked up Proctor transfer Peter
Carlson and gets a boost inside with 6-5
Dave McCure. a raw senior.
MSJ liked up-tempo defense in
the past and won’t deviate from that
blueprint.
“We can do big things if we do the
little things,” Charbonneau said.
OTTER VALLEY
Who ARE these guys? You’d hardly
know unless you paid much attention
to the Otter Valley JV team last winter.
New coach Mike Stark was asked
what were his thoughts when he was
appointed to take over for the departed
Greg Hughes and had only two varsity
players returning.
“Thanks a lot, Greg,” he replied with
a big smile.
Stark has a very energetic group
of his hands and he’s become very
familiar with them over the past year
or two.
The Otters will be fun to watch as
they negotiate the varsity learning
curve: a hard-charging group that
works hard at both ends and runs the
floor, attacks the basket and pops the
ball out to get scoring from lots of
people.
“I want to speed the game up. I want
us to work hard and have fun and do
the little things right,” Stark said.
Cole Letourneau will run the point
and Parker Todd, Dylan Gaboriault,
Alex Philo and rangy big man Lane
Eddy will be among the top nine
players along with returnees Logan
Trombley and Julian Ortiz, and Hayden
Bernhardt and Elijah Tucker-Bryant.
OV needs to develop an inside game
but figures to get it from setting a fast
pace and getting out in transition. They
generated 17 3-pointers in a JV game
against MSJ last season but Stark isn’t
counting on that to sustain his offense.
Naturally so young a group is going
to hit speed bumps but that’s part of
the process that could produce a strong
team down the line.
“I think we’ll be the underdog and
I think they like being the underdog,”
Stark said.
The Otters open at Vergennes Dec. 17.
POULTNEY
Big man Ryan Alt will play a more
prominent role after Poultney gradu-
ated key pieces of its frontcourt, but
the biggest change is the addition of
Levi Allen, who sat out last year with an
injury and watched from the sidelines
when the Blue Devils lost in the D-IV
finals.
While Poultney usually plays a fast
game, the Blue Devils will be even
faster with Allen back at point guard.
“He’s a dynamic athlete,” said coach
Bob Coloutti of his junior speedster.
Allen is one of many who played on
the state championship football team
and that’s helped spread enthusiasm.
Three members of that team who did
not play basketball last year came out:
Jacob McMahon, Layne Gibbs and
Grant Schreiber. That’s beefed up the
competition for spots and will make
Poultney bigger off the bench.
“That makes practices better,”
Coloutti said.
“I like how they all play together.
There’s a bond there; you can tell.”
Other key veterans include athletic
guard Caden Capman, who does a little
of everything, and versatile forward
Heith Mason.
“I think overall we’re a little more
versatile,” Coloutti said. “(Spots) five
through 12 are pretty wide open. It’s
going to take some time.”
Thomas Dunbar, Lucas Van Nos-
trand, Jesse Combs, Silas Haviland,
Chris Ray and Jon Baker are all back
with the club, which dove right into the
D-IV fray at the power-packed Bob A
Tip-Off on Thursday.
PROCTOR
Proctor has no post presence. Proc-
tor has lots of 3-point shooters. Bombs
away, right?
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